Woman of Yorkshire
by Miss Puppet
Summary: Calendar Girls 2002 movie After her divorce, Ruth builds a new life for herself, one she is rather happy with. If only she could get over this silly infatuation with Knapely s new doctor.
1. Chapter 1

**Woman of Yorkshire  
><strong>_By: Miss Puppet_

_Rated_: T  
><em>Fandom:<em> Calendar Girls  
><em>Pairings<em>: Ruth/OC  
><em>Disclaimer:<em> Another thing that isn´t mine. Belongs to Buena Vista International and Touchstone Pictures.  
><em>Spoilers<em>: It´s a follow-up on the movie, so you should watch that first.  
><em>Summary<em>: After her divorce, Ruth picks up the pieces of her life.  
><em>Genre<em>: friendship/romance

_A/N: Calendar Girls has been my absolute favourite movie for years. There are so many wonderful characters, but I´ve always been very drawn to Ruth´s storyline. She´s such a genuinely kind-hearted woman and the way her husband treats her is just appalling. So… I wanted to give her her own happy ending and something more substantial than ´I´m off to Hollywood!´ _

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

She was in Hollywood. She was sitting at the bar of an incredible fancy hotel, sipping expensive wine from a crystal glass. She was wearing a sophisticated, figure-hugging black dress and impossible high heels. She had left her husband. She had been on National TV in America. She had posted naked for a calendar.

She caught a glimpse of herself in the one of the shining glass doors of the bar and she barely recognized herself. Whoever this woman was, perched elegantly – although highly uncomfortable – on a black leather barstool, it most certainly wasn´t Ruth Reynoldson. However, for some obscure reason it very much was.

The last few days had passed in a blur. Uncharacteristically, she hadn´t been thinking much at all, but just living the experience and enjoying herself. So far from home she´d felt like a different person, free and unrestrained. It was only now, after the sobering events of today that tiredness was finally settling in. And now that the adrenaline had ebbed away, she felt the feeling of euphoria rapidly disappearing. Today, standing behind that clothesline with those ridiculous, revealing, cardboard clothes she had rather unceremoniously been plunged back into reality. Standing there her stomach had knitted with nerves when she had realized what exactly was expected of her – of them. To take off their clothes again, but this time for a detergent commercial of all things. The relief that had swept through her when Annie had stormed out was quickly tempered by the awful realization that things had somehow gone too far. And within seconds she had been back to her old self again: timid, self-conscious and insecure Ruth. The tension between Chris and Annie had been tangible all afternoon and after dinner the later had excused herself and retired to her room early. They would fly home tomorrow and despite everything she felt glad for it.

And finally the thought that she had studiously tried to ignore all this time was now pressing firmly to the front of her mind: _she had left her husband._ After he had left her – she commented wryly to herself. And he had probably left her years ago, thrown himself into the arms of the dark-haired, sharp-eyed woman she had met at the restaurant in Ilkley. Ruth wondered briefly if she had been his only mistress. Or had there been others? Her husband (ex-husband, she corrected herself sternly) had looked like a different man when he had walked into the hotel restaurant that evening: freshly shaved, wearing a black leather jacket and the air of a player. It had felt good to confront him, but now, as she was returning home again, she felt the first tinges of panic starting to rise up inside her.

What was she going to do without Eddy? What was she going to do without her husband? She wasn´t as oblivious as most people perceived her to be. In fact she was a great deal less oblivious than she wished she was. She had known Eddy was drifting away from her, she had known it for years. She had realized that it was highly unlikely that a simple middleman of carpet was required to go on business trips quite that often. She had never dared to admit it even to herself but in a way, she had known all along.

So she had tried to hold on to him. She had tried so very, very hard. But like sand slipping away from between her fingers, simply because she was squeezing it too hard, he had slipped away from her. Gradually at first, almost imperceptible. But later on it had become more obvious. As he was straying away from her and – as she suspected now – drifting into the arms of other women he had begun to shun her more openly. At first she was the only one to notice. He barely touched anymore. She had to coax him into displaying even the tiniest sign of affection – beg him for it almost. He looked at her with cold indifference, sometimes barely concealed annoyance even. She knew he no longer found her attractive. In the last few years they had seldom been intimate together and it had always been on her initiative. She told herself that she didn´t mind to seduce him. Told herself that it didn´t matter to her that he turned off the lights before he even touched her.

Over the last years their troubles had become more apparent to those around them. She never quite figured out what hurt her the most, the burning humiliation when he put her down or slighted her in public, or the pity in the eyes of women like Ceilia, or Chris or even Annie, women who would never be treated in the same manner by their husbands. Women who would never stand for it.

She had refused to acknowledge that her marriage was falling apart around her. Instead she had put up a brave face and a smile and pretended that everything was alright – or at least would be. She still loved Eddy. And he loved her. He was just over-worked, tired, perhaps a little bored.

It hadn´t been the truth that had hurt her so much when she had phoned his hotel and that other woman had picked up the phone of his room instead of him. What had hurt her was that his infidelity had become such a reality all of a sudden. Something she could no longer pretend away or fix if she just tried a little bit harder. He didn´t want her anymore. As she had put down the phone and ran off to Ilkley on a whim it had really only been another attempt to pretend that she wasn´t feeling empty and run-down.

For years she had been begging for the crumbs of his table, while she was slowly starving inside from lack of attention and intimacy. She might be free now from waiting for him and expecting anything from him, but she still hurt.

* * *

><p>The barkeeper poured her a third glass of Chardonnay and the unusual amount of alcohol she was consuming did nothing to improve her already melancholic mood. At first she barely noticed the presence on her right, until a low voice asked: ´Would you mind if I take this seat?´<p>

´No, not at all,´ she replied automatically, surprised to hear a Yorkshire accent in Hollywood. She glanced sideways without thinking and then blinked in shock. The most beautiful man she had seen since – well, it didn´t really matter how long – was slowly lowering his tall frame on the barstool next to her.  
>She knew she was staring, probably doing a perfect imitation of a goldfish, but she couldn´t help herself. She guessed he had a few years on her, his blonde hair was already streaked with grey. But it was still thick and curled slightly at the nape of his neck. He was clean-shaved and dressed casually-smart in a pair of dark jeans and a cream-coloured dress shirt. Shaking her head slightly she tried to get her bearings back and listened as he quietly ordered a brandy from the barkeeper. Definitely a Yorkshire man.<p>

´Are you from around here?´ he asked her then, shifting slightly so he could look at her. She had been so busy staring at him that she was startled when he addressed her. Looking up in his eyes, she found that they were steel blue.

´I… uhmmm…´ she stammered, suddenly at loss for words and cursing herself for it. ´No, actually, I don´t think I could be further from home than I am right now.´

A surprised, warm smile filled his face and she almost forgot how to breath as she noticed the dimples appearing on either side of his mouth. He was so handsome. He had the most beautiful smile she had ever seen on a man and he was smiling at her. Unexpectedly her heart missed a beat and then began to hammer. It must be the wine, she told her dazed mind. He was talking but she could barely make out what he was saying to her.

´… it is certainly nice to hear a familiar tongue again.´ She assumed he had noticed she as from Yorkshire too, but she couldn´t be sure, so she nodded a little hesitantly and asked him: ´What brings you to Hollywood then?´

´I just came back from Tanzania where I worked for Doctors without borders,´ he told her. ´A friend of mine lives in California and I´ve been staying with him to sort out some affairs. He told me I had to see Hollywood, so I decided to squeeze in a day before I go back to Britain. I fly back to London tomorrow from Fort Lauderdale.´

While he was talking she had calmed down somewhat. He was leaning casually against the bar, nursing his brandy and watching her. Something about his relaxed composure rubbed off on her and she felt herself unwinding just a little. That was until he asked: ´And what brings you to Hollywood?´

´I…´ she started and then blushed furiously. Oh goodness, how was she going to explain this to him? How was she ever going to tell this utterly gorgeous man that she was in Hollywood to promote a nude-calendar, featuring herself and ten other middle-aged women?

´I´m here with friends,´ she eventually offered lamely, adverting his eyes. Right at that moment the bar-keeper, an impossible slim male in his early thirties, dressed in tight black jeans and a grey shirt with some sort of shimmer over it, popped up in front of her. ´Another drink for you, darling?´ he asked in an overly cheerful voice that had annoyed her all evening. ´We can´t have Miss July go thirsty, now could we?´

She declined the drink, feeling she really didn´t need anything else fogging her mind. Tentatively she risked a glance sideward and found him looking at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face. ´Miss July?´ he asked incredulously.

Realizing he now probably thought she was the background dancer of some seedy show in one of the many obscure theatres here in Hollywood, she suddenly felt rather resigned. After all, this handsome man who led such an interesting life would never think much of her to begin with. The fact that he was talking with her in the first place was already astonishing. Either way his opinion of her was going to plunge. If she told him about the calendar he would see her as ´an old tart showing her nipples´ and if she didn´t tell him it wouldn´t take him more than five minutes to figure out she was nothing more than a boring prude. So she opted for honestly at least.

´My friends and I – we all know each other through the WI. A while ago one of us lost her husband to cancer. In order to raise money for a couch in the hospital we all posed for a calendar…´ Here she trailed off, not having the courage to tell him about the tiny but rather crucial detail: that she had posed naked for it. Or _in the_ _nude _as Jessie insisted.  
>She didn´t need to elaborate however. His eyes already widened in amazement. ´You were on the Tonight Show yesterday… I saw you… all of you.´<p>

She felt his eyes sweeping over her and she was struck with the irrational impulse to run away and wrap herself in the thickest, most concealing dressing-gown she could find. Her cheeks burned with mortification and with great difficulty she pushed back the tears that prickled behind her eyes.

Looking down at the smooth surface of the bar, unable to meet his eyes, she muttered quietly: ´Yes well… it was a rather outlandish idea to begin with…´ More than anything she wanted to leave. Eddy´s cruel, hurtful words still rang in her ears and she couldn´t bear to hear the scorn from another man. The calendar was a joke and so was she – a big joke.

´I think what you did was amazing,´ his voice was soft and sincere. ´I´ve seen the devastating effect of cancer. And out of a tragedy like that you´ve managed to celebrate life and beauty…´

She still couldn´t look at him, but as he spoke, she watched his hand, resting on the bar from the corner of her eye. Once upon a time – before her marriage to Eddy, she had done a lot of sculpting. She had loved it. It gave her an opportunity to escape into a world of her own where she would mould and pressure the clay until it took the shape or form she intended it to have. She had liked to believe then that she was somewhat good at it and at any rate, it had just been wonderful to create something, something that was just hers and just the way she wanted it to be.

For some reason Eddy had always been adverse to this little passion of hers. In the first years of her marriage he had complained non-stop whenever she had started on another project. He complained of the money she spend on materials and evening classes. He complained of the mess, of the room her equipment and sculptures took up and he complained about the time she spend on making them. Her ´muddling´ as he consequently referred to it annoyed him to no end and eventually she had given up on it entirely, telling herself that willingness to compromise was the foundation to every solid marriage.

But now, looking at his hand, she suddenly wished she had a lump of clay in her hands so she model it. The long fingers with perfect, oval nails, trimmed short and clean kept. The firm, square joints and the curves of his knuckles.

She smiled wistfully and pondered on his words for a few seconds, slowly letting them sink in, before she finally looked up again. There was not the slightest trace of judgment or disgust in his eyes, but he was looking at her in wonderment, as if he could barely believe it had really been her in that calendar. Well, she could easily understand that sentiment and she laughed a little. ´Perhaps it´s just me then… I´m not one for doing something outlandish…´

´So why did you do it?´ he asked and it was the genuine interest in his voice that made her answer that question.  
>´Because I liked John – Annie´s husband a lot and it broke my heart when he died. He was far too young and he suffered so much from that wretched disease. I was just as angry and upset as the other girls were, but they… they had something they could do with their emotions. They could turn it into a determination to make sure something good came from it. They came up with this idea for a calendar and I was just afraid, terrified really... The afternoon when they were taking the pictures… I was at home, I´d told them I wouldn´t come, but I couldn´t think of anything else either. And all of a sudden I was so sick and tired of being a coward, of being afraid all the time…´<p>

She was terrified right now, sharing her inmost thoughts with a complete stranger, who for some unfathomable reason was still listening intently at her. In a lighter voice she continued: ´So I went over to Annie´s house, gulped down half a bottle of wine and told the photographer ``Let´s do it!`` Next thing I know, I was Miss July.´

He grinned at that, his eyes never leaving her face. But then his face turned serious. ´Would I be far off if I said that you would have never done this if it hadn´t been for the cause?´

´Oh no, I´d say you´re spot on!´ she agreed heartily, relieved that he understood. ´Although I don´t think any of the girls would have done it if it wasn´t for the cause. It´s just… to them it was so much easier. I never had that ease like Ceilia or Chris has.´

´Is that so wrong?´ he asked thoughtfully. ´You´re not Ceilia or Chris. You´re you.´

´Perhaps,´ she replied quietly. _Just lately being me hasn´t exactly been a picnic._

´You know…´ he was leaning a little bit closer towards her and there was a hint of a smile around his lips. ´This would be a good moment to tell me who you are.´

Smiling, she felt herself relax again. ´I´m Ruth,´ she told him. ´Ruth…´ she hesitated for a mere second, ´… Reynoldson.´

She felt his strong fingers closing around hers as he took her hand. ´Tim Wellington.´

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><p><em>AN again: So I think it´s safe to say that Dr Timothy Wellington is the love-interest for whatever character Penelope Wilton happens to be playing… _

**I´d like to hear what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews and alerts, both on LJ and here! And I´m very happy that Calendar Girls now has it´s own category here under ´movies´. I emailed about it a few weeks ago and this morning I got a little email that simply said: added!_  
><em>So in celebration of a brand new category, a brand new chapter! Enjoy! <em>

_**Chapter 2**_

´Who´s tall and handsome?´ Chris had apparently been dying to ask her this question for quite a while, because the moment after Tim Wellington had said his goodbyes and left, she took up his now vacant seat at the bar and looked at her expectantly.

Only slowly coming back to her surroundings after the rather intent conversation she´d just had, Ruth looked at her slightly dazed. ´Oh… his name his Tim… he´s from Yorkshire actually.´ Looking around her she realized all the other girls had gone up to their rooms already and it was just her and Chris left in the bar.

´It´s a small world after all,´ Chris snorted. ´You two looked rather chummy there for a moment.´

´Oh no…´ Ruth answered, blushing slightly. ´We were just talking, that´s all. He has the most interesting job… he´s been to Tanzania for Doctors without Borders and he was telling me about it…´

´I´m sure it´s more interesting than carpet,´ Chris replied, rather thoughtlessly. When she noticed the slight look of hurt that crossed over her friends´ face, she bit her lip. ´I´m sorry… I definitely seem to manage to get my foot in today.´

´No, you´re right…´ Ruth relented, resting her elbows on the bar and her chin in her hand. ´It was a great deal more interesting…´ She shot a sideways glance at Chris. ´Is Rod alright?´ she asked tentatively, having caught bits and pieces of their fall-out.

Chris shrugged. ´I don´t know and I don´t know if I care yet. He´s told the papers I haven´t been giving it to him for weeks, Ruth! You have no idea how mortifying that is.´

´I suspect as mortifying as having your husband call you ´a tart with her nipples showing´, Ruth countered drily.

Chris fully turned around on her barstool and watched her with her mouth hanging open, her expression horrified. ´He never did! That wretched idiot! When did he…?´

´I was waiting for him with the calendar, I thought I´d surprise him…´ Ruth told her softly. ´But when he got home he was furious. He barely even looked at me… he started packing right away, said he wouldn´t stay another minute… and then he said… well what he said.´

´Bloody hell…´ Chris muttered. A long silence fell between them, both women contemplating on their marriage. Finally Chris whispered barely audible: ´I think Rod was just tricked into giving that interview…´

´I think Eddy was just being a wretched idiot to begin with,´ Ruth replied equally quiet, staring ahead of her.

´Are you going to leave him?´ Chris asked tentatively.

´I don´t have to…´ Ruth replied in a small voice. ´He has already left me. I found out he was cheating on me, just before we came here.´ Her voice cracked a little. ´My marriage is over.´

Chris clenched her fists underneath the counter of the bar, torn between shock and anger. ´I´m so sorry, Ruth,´ she eventually offered genuinely. Then she groaned. ´I´m the most selfish person on the planet, aren´t I?´

Memories of Chris driving John Clarke in and out of hospital, of her buying pies so Annie had something to show at the WI function and the tears she´d shed at John´s funeral flashed before her eyes and Ruth smiled softly. ´You´re not selfish… you´re just a little determined every now and then… I sometimes envy you for it.´

´But I messed it up this time,´ Chris replied dejectedly. ´I almost got us posing stark-naked for a detergent today! If Annie hadn´t walked out on us…´

´Then I would have…´ Ruth interrupted her with a snort. ´Never underestimate the power of a good Catholic upbringing.

But the thing is…This was never meant to be your project alone – but something from all of us. For Annie to honour her husband´s memory, for Jessie to tackle as some sort of quirky school-project, for Cora as an opportunity to dive into, for you to make into a success, for me to join in fretting and objecting, for Ceilia… well, frankly I suspect Ceilia has already done something like this once…´ When Chris let out an involuntarily snort they glanced at each other and burst out in laughter.

The tension that had been there between them eased and Ruth felt herself really relax for the first time that day. Finally Chris sobered up though, her face filling with remorse again.

´Annie was so upset and I´ve been so horrible to her.´

´She´s hurting,´ Ruth said thoughtfully. ´I can´t believe how much it hurts that Eddy has left and I imagine Annie is in even more pain… Her husband died, Chris. She´s just hurting so much!´

´I can´t imagine losing Rod,´ Chris said hoarsely. ´I know I complain about him a lot, but… I can´t bear to think that something would happen to him… I just wish… why didn´t he come to me if he was feeling so neglected? Why did he have to tell a bloody reporter?´

´You´ll have to ask him,´ Ruth answered. ´At least you´ve got the chance to do so as we´re flying home tomorrow. Thank goodness.´

´Do you regret posing for the calendar… you know, all things considered?´ Chris asked thoughtfully.

´No… I don´t,´ Ruth answered after a slight pause, surprising herself somewhat with her answer. ´I`m not saying that I´d have the guts to do it again, but no, I don´t regret it… all things considered.´

´So back to our original topic,´ Chris said with a grin. ´Who was tall and handsome?´

´He was rather nice,´ Ruth admitted, blushing furiously. ´We just talked though… nothing more. But it was… nice…´

Chris knew Ruth never believe her if she told her that it hadn´t looked like two people ´just talking´ to anyone else in the bar. From the way his entire body language had been concentrated on her to the way their heads had almost touched when they were talking, trying to block out the rest of the world, it had looked like so much more. But Ruth wouldn´t believe her. Not yet, anyway. Not after the way that prick of a husband of hers had treated her and had been treating her for years. Still, she had to know that not every man would treat her a careless as Eddy had done, Chris decided.

So she told her sincerely: ´He seemed to really like you, though. That much was obvious.´

* * *

><p>Slamming his cellphone shut and throwing it unceremoniously down on one of the armchairs, Tim Wellington stepped through the French doors unto the spacious balcony overlooking the ocean, feeling for the first time the over-priced hotel room was worth his money. The cool air and soft sea breeze managed to calm him down somewhat, though some of the anger, evoked by the text message he had just received still lingered. Even after their break-up up, Carol still managed to make his blood boil and his temper flare, perhaps now even more so than when they were still in a relationship. Had she become even more uncooperative since then or had he simply stopped trying to find excuses for her behaviour? All he knew was that her unreasonable request was just that – unreasonable.<p>

He sighed deeply and ran his hand through his hair. He´d been feeling so much better upon returning to his room – in fact, he hadn´t felt this good since his return from Tanzania – but one message from Carol and he was winding up like an overwrought alarm-clock again.

He and Carol had had been in a stormy, on and off again relationship for a year and a half. At first there had been nothing but the thrill… she was sharp, she made every male eye turn when she entered a room and she could be very pleasing – if she wished to be. She was smart and she knew her mind and at first that had attracted him to her like nothing else would. She had a temper that matched his own and she had been so passionate in the beginning.

But as the year had gone by the cracks in their relationship had begun to appear. His work meant the world to him and he had always strived to divide his attention as fairly as he could between his practise and Carol. But no matter how hard he tried, she always felt slighted. It made him feel guilty and as a result of it he had put up with far more of her antics than he should have in retrospect. They´d broken off their relationship a few times, but somehow they had always ended up back together. Every time he had convinced himself that he was better off without her, that being with her just wasn´t worth the drama and the fights and the scenes and he finally told her so, she again became the woman he´d fallen in love with and he fell for her again.

Until eight months ago, when he finally hadn´t been able to take it anymore. They´d been fighting constantly and he´d began to feel that no matter what he did or said, it was never going to be enough, he was just never going to be able to make her happy. It had gotten to the point where he had dreaded going home, apprehensive of whatever she had find this time to nag him about. He had taken a commission with Doctors without Borders to go to Tanzania for six months, telling Carol that he needed some time away from her to clear his head to figure out if there was really a future for them, for the first time holding himself deaf for her pleas, her pouting, her fury and her manipulation. He´d been stationed at a refugee´s camp near the border and if he had expected to have time on his hands to contemplate his life, he had been sadly mistaken.

He had worked harder than he had ever worked in his life under the burning African sun. Sometimes it felt like he had been thrown into a parallel universe were nothing was the same from his sheltered, cushioned life in Britain. The endless stream of people, waiting outside the medical clinic from dawn to sunset every single day, the skeleton-like arms and legs of the children with their protruding bellies, the desperation in the eyes of their mothers as they knew they just didn´t have enough food. Delivering babies in the back of a pick-up truck with his bare hands, deprived of even the most basic medical equipment. The flies that were everywhere, the constant humidity and heat and smell of just too many people on a small surface. He´d worked for sixteen hours straight and then fell into his bed, utterly exhausted.

And even without a minute to spare to think about his relationship with Carol, somehow Tanzania had changed him and when he got back he knew within a week that they wouldn´t make it together. Somehow he was finally able to see clearly that their relationship was making neither of them happy and that he needed to end it. Breaking up with her- finally and irrevocably had been a challenge in itself, but he had persevered. He had left their house in Essex and gone off to visit his college friend Richard, who lived in California.

Once Carol had realized that this time he had ended their relationship for good all pretence of niceness and amiability were gone. So he had spent the last three weeks living through the most horrendous break-up of his life. She fought him about everything: the house, the car, the money on their joint account… as far as he was concerned, she could have everything, as long as it would mean that he would never have to deal with her again. But unfortunately, every confrontation she sought with him seemed to be designed to accomplish the opposite: throwing herself into his way again, making life as miserable for him as she could. Apart from that he was angry and frustrated with himself for letting the situation get into such a state. He really should have known better, should have never gotten involved with her in the first place.

So for the past three weeks he had mulled about. Eager to leave Essex he had tried to find a new position as a general practitioner and a place to live. Thankfully he had managed to secure both, so his professional life was taken care of. His personal life was a different matter altogether. Actually, the hour and half he had spent at the bar this evening could be considered to be the highlight of the past month in that regard. He smiled softly as he remembered the woman in the black dress with her shy smile and soft brown eyes. For a moment he forgot his anger and Carol and allowed himself to relive the conversation in his head.

He had been amazed when he had discovered her involvement in the WI calendar. And the fact that it was so obvious that she would never have done anything like this if it hadn´t been for the circumstance made him admire her actions even more. Her quiet courage and the sheer beauty of what she and her friends had accomplished with their calendar – in more than one way - was refreshing after the hell he´d witnessed in Tanzania and had experienced after his homecoming. Apart from that she had been a joy to talk to – or to talk with. Although he had to admit he had hogged up most of the conversation. After she had asked him about his time in Tanzania he had found that once he´d begun, he didn´t seem to able to stop the flood of words any longer. For some reason he´d felt it easy to tell her, not only about the small miracles, but also about the gruesome circumstances, her undivided attention and intent listening spurring him on. He realized now that it said a lot about his last relationship that he was so amazed at finding a woman who actually listened to what he had to say, but there definitely was something rather uplifting about sharing your story with a woman who asked questions intended on keeping it going as opposed to directing the conversation back to herself again.

He had felt so much better when he´d left the bar and gone up to his room. And suddenly a feeling of determination settled over him. Carol was history. And no matter how much she tried to push herself back into his life again, this time he wasn´t going to let her. Tomorrow he would fly back to Britain again and start a new chapter in his life. He would return to his beloved Yorkshire to take over a practise and settle back in a more comfortable lifestyle than the drama-filled one he had exposed himself to over the last couple of years. He would become very happy in Knapely. He was certain of it.

* * *

><p><strong>Looks like there will be a new doc in town! Please let me know what you think! <strong>


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Here´s the next installment. I´m sorry about the Fellowian time-jump, but neither Ruth nor Tim strikes me as people who easily jump into a new relationship. And after the nasty break-up they both had, they need some time to settle in. _

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

_One year later_

She was standing in her small kitchen, buttering some toast when suddenly the realization hit her: today it had been exactly a year since Eddy had left her. Smiling softly, she poured herself a mug of coffee, took her toast and sat down at the table, enjoying the sun, the paper and her breakfast, all the while contemplating on the course her life had taken since Eddy had walked out on her.

Once she´d returned from California last year, it had become obvious that Eddy really intended to divorce her and after everything that had happened she was quite ready to agree with him that their marriage was truly over. Still, it hadn´t been easy. Ending a marriage that had lasted for sixteen years never was and Eddy hadn´t exactly made things easy for her. The whole thing had been an exercise in assertiveness for her.

After their split-up, Eddy had moved to Ilkley to live with his new girlfriend. Unwilling to stay behind in the house they´d shared for the duration of their marriage, they had decided to put the house up for sale, one of the few decisions they managed to agree upon. After that she had been rather lucky when _Maple Cottage_ had become available for rent. The cottage was small and during the winter months she had to spent a small fortune keeping it warm, but she had felt at home the second she´d moved in. Maple Cottage consisted of a tiny kitchen, a spacious living room and two bedrooms, of which she converted one into a studio. Almost immediately after moving in she had taken up sculpturing again, subscribing to an evening class at the community centre and generally just experimenting with various techniques and projects on her days off, enjoying every single minute of it.

After sixteen years of being a housewife, she had applied for a job at Knapeley´s nursing home and was instantly hired, much to her relief. It had taken her a month to get used to a new rhythm of early shifts and balancing her working hours between household chores and a social life, but once she got the hang of it, she felt more than happy with her life. Earning her own money, feeling useful and being included into something bigger gave her great sense of fulfilment. Soon her days and evenings filled with all kinds of obligations. There was work, her sculpting, the WI of which she became treasurer, Nordic walking with Annie and the regular coffee-appointments with other friends.

All in all she was happy, albeit a little lonely. At first she had tried to remedy this by a trip to an animal shelter where she´d picked up a fat, lazy tomcat she´d named Ollie. It helped somewhat, but didn´t cure her loneliness completely. It wasn´t that she necessarily missed Eddy. As the months passed she had come to accept that she was better off without him and that the loveless façade their marriage had turned into had been hurting her more than it had done her any good. But she did miss someone to share her life with. Someone to take care off.

On the other hand, after years of being ignored and neglected by her husband, of foolishly sacrificing every last bit of herself she had to give, trying to maintain a marriage that was doomed to fail in the first place, her heart definitely felt trodden on. The first months after her divorce she´d spend nights lying awake in her bed, trying to sort out her feelings and blaming herself for the failure her marriage had turned into. If only… if only she´d been more… But the thing was, she could never quite determine what she´d needed to have done more of. Should she have been more loving? Should she have put up more of a fight? Should she have tried harder? Should she have been stronger, more determined? Eventually she´d gone to see her doctor for a prescription of some light sleeping pills and found herself a counsellor. Someone who listened to her and helped her through the myriad of emotions and regrets. And now, a year after the break-up she could carefully, but with some confidence say that she was back on her feet again.

* * *

><p>Clearing away the dishes, she shrugged into her coat and set out for her first appointment of the day, a visit to her doctor.<p>

When she entered the private practise, located in what had been a barn once, but was now converted into a modern medical facility she smiled at the assistant behind the counter and noticed to her relief that the waiting room was practically empty.

´Good morning Mrs Harris,´ the young woman said. ´The doctor will be with you in a few mi…´

Before she even had the chance to finish her sentence the door of the treatment room opened and revealed the tall form of Dr Tim Wellington, donned in his white coat. Upon seeing her, he grinned at her, his dimples showing. ´Good morning, Ruth,´ he greeted her warmly. ´You can come straight in.´

She followed him inside and admonished herself inwardly for the little backflip her heart did.

The moment she´d met him again, a month or so after she´d been to Hollywood still stood vividly in her mind. She´d ran into him at the grocery store of all places and for a moment they had just stared at each other completely dumbfounded. It had been a pleasant surprise to find him there, although at that moment it hadn´t really filtered through her brain. As nice as it was to see him again, her mind had been completely taken in by Eddy, the divorce and her anxiety on how she would ever make a living for herself now that he was leaving her.

So for a while she hadn´t spared much thought on the handsome doctor that was quickly becoming rather popular in the village. But once she started at Knapeley´s nursing home they had met on a few occasions, although they never had found the chance to talk at length. Still, they did get to spend some time together. Usually he was called in when one of the residents was dying. In had been on those occasions that she had really come to appreciate his calm character. As a single woman now with no children or husband waiting for her at home, she often volunteered to take the night-shift to watch over a person during their final moments on earth. During those long, silent nights as she sat at beds, held hands, whispered words of comfort or listened as the other person unburdened their soul, he had been there as well, checking the patient´s vital signs every so often. They hardly talked then, somehow the setting never feeling quite appropriate to do so. But they fetched each other coffee and when he slept in the on-call room it was usually her who went to wake him when the time had come. She liked him. He was a good, kind man and thus she tried to ignore the ridiculous flutters of her heart as much as possible.

Now he was sitting behind his desk, watching her with those steel blue eyes and a little smile. ´How´ve you been?´ he asked her.

´Alright,´ she replied lightly. ´Busy with things, work, the WI… you know how these things go.´

´I´d forgotten how full-packed life in a small village could become,´ he replied chuckling. ´So, what can I do for you?´ he asked then, turning a tad more business-like. Fiona mentioned something about getting another subscription for your sleeping pills?´

´Well… actually…´ she started hesitantly. ´I´d like to stop using them. I sleep a lot better than I did a year ago and I think I´ll manage to continue doing so without medication.´

´I would definitely encourage you to stop,´ he replied thoughtfully. ´I´ve never been a big fan of the extensive use of sleep medication, so if you´re comfortable about trying to do without them I´m with you. I just wouldn´t recommend you to stop cold turkey. Just decrease the doses slowly… although…´ he checked her file on the computer, ´you never took a high dose to begin with. You should be off medication within three weeks.´

She smiled relieved. ´I´d like that… I´ve got enough to do anyway, so these days I generally fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow.´

´I´ll give you a schedule,´ he told her, typing down some notes. ´As long as you stick to that, you should experience no problems. If you do however, or if you´re unable to sleep again, don´t hesitate to come back.´

´I will,´ she promised, just as the printer started to buzz. He handed her the paper and just as she was about to get up and leave he stopped her.

´Actually… now that I`ve got the chance to talk to you… I have a bit of a favour to ask of you, but feel absolutely free to say no if you don´t want to…´

Very curious now she sat down again and waited for him to continue.

´You may probably have heard that I´m settling here and that I´m looking around for a house to purchase.´  
>She nodded slowly, since Chris had already told her this a few days ago. Still, she had no idea what kind of favour he wanted from her.<p>

´I know your old house is still up for sale and I´d really like to have a look at it. The thing is, the estate agent is out of the county for a month.´

Ruth rolled her eyes at this. Hiring this particular agent to handle the transactions had been Eddy´s idea, as he wanted to do a favour to one of his mates. As a result, a year after their separation, the house was still up for sale with no prospect of any buyers.

´So I was wondering…´ Tim continued. ´And again, I wouldn´t mind if you said no, but would you be willing to show me the house?´

She only needed a second to think about it and then nodded. ´Of course I don´t mind.´ Actually she was rather excited about the prospect of finally losing the house. She had been worried lately about the financial consequences if they didn't manage to sell it.

´How about Friday afternoon?´ she suggested. ´I´m off from work around two ´o clock, so shall we say four?´

He checked his diary quickly and smiled in agreement. ´I don´t have any appointments. Shall we meet at the house at four then?´

´Fine,´ she agreed, fighting down the twinge of anxiety she suddenly felt in the pit of her stomach. She hadn´t been to the house since she´d left it and to be honest, she´d been avoiding the entire street ever since. But it would be alright, she told herself sternly. After all, the house had to be sold and there were worse things in the world than showing Dr Wellington around her former home.

* * *

><p>By the time it was Friday however, her stomach hurt from nervousness and she wondered why she had ever agreed to show him around her old house. For some reason Tim Wellington so much belonged to her new life that it felt almost surreal to her to take him back to what had been her old life. Clutching the key anxiously, she waited for him at the front door. And when she heard the door of car slam shut, announcing his arrival, she felt the knot in her stomach grow even tighter.<p>

´Thank you for meeting me here,´ he said after his initial greeting.

´It´s not a problem,´ she replied quietly, trying to steady her hand as she opened the door.

´Ruth…´ his hand on her elbow stopped her movements for a moment. ´Are you sure you´re alright with this?´

She smiled and squared her shoulders, finding her courage again. ´I´ll be fine,´ she reassured him. ´I´ll admit, it´s a bit strange to be back here – I haven´t been since I left. But I am rather eager to sell the house. So let´s go in, shall we..? I´ll give you the grand tour.´

She led him through the hallway to the living room and gave him some time to look around and take in his surroundings while she experienced a myriad of familiar smells and sounds. Although slightly dusty, the house still smelled the same. The hardboard floor still creaked when she stepped over the threshold, the door still squeaked. She had honestly believed she was going to grow old here. Together with Eddy. But somehow things had gone spectacularly wrong.

´It´s a very bright room,´ Tim commented lightly.

´It is,´ she answered with a wistful smile. ´Especially during the summer. We used to have the couch there…´ she pointed at a slightly faded spot on the floor, ´and you could watch the sunset from there, it was lovely. I hardly ever closed the curtains. Come on, I´ll show you upstairs.´

Taking him upstairs was even harder. Hardly anyone aside from Eddy and herself had ever been up here. It felt strange having him walk around here, contemplating a purchase while it still felt so much like her home.

´That´s one of the smaller bedrooms,´ she pointed out to him, ´and this is the master bedroom.´ She opened the door for him and stepped in first. The room was empty and the colouring on the wallpaper showed exactly where the pictures had been.

She stepped more fully into the room, taking in her surroundings. Tim hadn´t said anything for a while and she was so busy reminiscing that she failed to notice he was watching her rather closely. Somehow the emptiness of the room soothed her somewhat. It was as if with seeing with her own eyes that everything had gone made it more easy for her to accept that her life here, in this house, was truly over.

´Was it just Eddy and you who lived here?´ Tim eventually asked tentatively after a very long silence.

Discussing this had been the hardest, most confronting part of her therapy. All in all, she didn´t have many regrets. She´d manage to take responsibility for her share of the reasons their marriage hadn´t worked out, recognizing that she had never really stood up to Eddy. Neither did she found that she blamed him for a great many things. It had all happened in the way that it did and she couldn´t change anything about that anymore. But one, great regret remained. This one wish he had always denied her.

´It was,´ she said finally in answer to his question. ´We never had children… Eddy didn´t want them, he made that clear from the beginning. I thought at first that he´d come around once we were married, but he never did… and I´ve grown to accept it. I could have made a different choice, but I kept hoping… until it was too late.´ She risked a glance at him and found him watching her with a sad look in his eyes.

´It´s the thing I regret most, actually…´ her voice trailed off, wondering once again what it was about this man that made it so easy for her to confide in. She was telling him things she had trouble admitting even to herself, just like earlier, before they´d entered the house, when it had been so very easy to admit to him how nervous she was.

´It´s a good thing we´re not together anymore,´ she finished eventually. ´All things considered… although…´

´Although it doesn´t make it one damn bit easier, even if it was the right thing to do.´ he said with a deep sigh. There was a such a conviction in his voice that she eyed him curiously. She didn´t dare to ask the question that was on the tip of her tongue, but something in his voice confirmed her suspicions.

He smiled dejectedly at her. ´Before Tanzania I was involved with a woman… had been for more than a year. Things weren´t easy between us, which was one of the reasons I signed up with Doctors without borders… I needed some time away from it all. When I came back it became obvious that things would never work out between us, so I ended the relationship. It was the right thing to do… but god, what a mess it turned into!´

She took a deep breath, feeling some of the tension leave her, and answered his smile with a small one of her own. It was oddly comforting to know that at least he knew what it was like to give up someone.

He took a step towards her but stopped when he heard a soft, crunching noise underneath his shoe. ´I think I´m standing on something, he muttered apologetically. Bending down he pried something from a crease in the floor.

´It´s an earring, I believe´ he said, holding the golden object into the light.

´Oh my goodness…´ Ruth breathed, closing the distance between them and eying the tiny piece of jewellery with widened eyes. ´That earing belonged to my grandmother… But I lost it years ago. I turned the whole house upside down, trying to find it, but I never did. I´ve kept the other one though. ´

´Well…´ he placed the earring carefully in her hand, his fingers softly brushing hers for a moment. ´At least this afternoon was good for something.´

´I never thought I´d see it again,´ she said happily, tucking the earring safely away inside her purse. When she looked back up at him, she noticed he was looking at her rather intensely and she frowned a little in confusion.

´How about we go for a cup of coffee at ´The King´s Crown,´ he suggested gently. ´You don´t look too happy about being back here… and don´t try to deny it,´ he said more firmly as she started to interrupt him. ´I have some questions left about the house, but I can ask them there.´

She had been about to protest, saying she was fine and that he didn´t need to trouble himself with taking her to the King´s Crown, but deep down she rather liked that he had picked up on her mood like this. He seemed genuinely interested in the house and it would be nice to finally sell it. So she nodded. A little hesitantly at first, but then more determined. ´I´d like that a lot, actually.´

* * *

><p>The landlord showed them to a booth at the back of the pub where it was still relatively quiet. Sipping their coffee, she answered his remaining questions about the house and after that they chatted a bit about the village. Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by a loud roar coming from the bar. Looking over her shoulder, Ruth noticed that the pub had become rather full.<p>

´It´s getting busy in here,´ Tim observed.

´It´s Friday afternoon,´ she grinned. On seeing his confused face she explained: ´There´s a farmer´s market in Skipton every Friday and a lot of the local farmers sell their products there. And depending on how profitable market was, they have a few drinks here. Another round of laughter rose from the bar. ´I´d say today was a very good day.´

´Have you ever been to that market?´ he asked curiously.

´I used to go quite often,´ she nodded. ´There´s a lot to be seen, actually. Apart from local products they sell authentic furniture, there´s crafts work and your usual dried fruits, jam and pies. I could show you around sometime if you like…´

As soon as those last words left her mouth she cursed herself inwardly. This was exactly what her problem was. Too eager to oblige someone who most likely didn´t even wanted or needed her help.  
>She had discussed this at length during her therapy sessions and resolved to be more reticent in offering het assistance, but here she was again, telling him she´d come with him, while he probably never even intended to go to the farmer´s market in the first place and now had to come up with an excuse to get rid of her. If only she´d just kept her mouth shut.<p>

Tim´s response however surprised her a great deal.

´Do you mean it?´ He leaned forward, while his eyes lightened up. ´I´d very much like to see it and I´d appreciate it if you came with me.´

She was so surprised she barely remembered how to string a coherent sentence together. ´Well… of course… the farmer´s market is every Friday…´

´You don´t happen to be free next week, do you?´ he asked hopefully.

She couldn´t help but grin at his eagerness. ´I am actually and I´d like to go there again… Yes, let´s go this Friday!´

´How about I pick you up?´ he suggested. `I it´s best to go rather early, isn´t it?´

´It tends to become more crowded during the afternoons,´ she agreed. ´But I wouldn´t suggest driving to Skipton. Even if the mornings are quieter, there´s still a lot of traffic going on. Besides, there´s never any parking spot. I used to take the bus. Line 439 stops at the post office and takes you right in front of the market in twenty minutes.´

´The bus it is then,´ he answered, visibly pleased with this arrangement. ´Shall we meet around ten o´ clock at the post office?´

His enthusiasm was infectious and she felt a bubble of excitement welling up herself now. ´Alright, ten ´o clock´s fine!´

As they easily fell back into conversation after that, she noted to her surprise that she was rather looking forward to their outing next week. He was pleasant company and he made her laugh. Furthermore, and to her great astonishment, she discovered that she could make him laugh as well. And it was rather compelling to try and make him flash those dimples at her. She liked him a lot, she decided. _But nothing more_! her mind added sternly. She wouldn´t start to get any ideas. Not after Eddy. Not after having worked this hard to make a life for herself. Not after she had finally come to peace with the fact that she was a single woman now. She was done with all that business. But it would be nice to gain a friend.

* * *

><p><strong>As always, I´d like to hear what you think!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

She arrived rather early at the bus stop and sat on a bench, enjoying the warm September sun, her day off and the prospect of spending the morning with Tim. After ten minutes or so, she glanced at her watch and realized he was a little late. At first it didn´t bother her too much. There were still another ten minutes to go before the bus came. But when he wasn´t there either when the bus to Skipton arrived she began to get nervous. She remained sitting on the bench as the bus stopped and drove away again and racked her mind, trying to remember their conversation as they´d set the date. They had agreed on ten o´clock, hadn´t day?

Shaking her head to herself, she bit her lip nervously. She was certain she hadn´t gotten the time wrong, so why wasn´t he here? Struck with a sudden flash of inspiration she pulled her cellphone from her purse and checked for messages. But there weren´t any. Another fifteen minutes passed and as much as she berated herself for it, she was getting anxious, the thought that he had simply stood her up becoming more and more pressing in her mind.

Again she went back over their conversation in her head, wondering if she had somehow misread his willingness to come with her to Skipton. Or perhaps he had simply changed his mind, the idea of spending an entire morning in her company suddenly putting him off. As much as she hated it, she couldn´t stop the old feeling of insecurity from creeping into her thoughts. When a second bus to Skipton came and went and he still wasn´t there, she realized she had to do something. First of all, she was starting to feel rather ridiculous, sitting on that bench for almost 45 minutes now. Briefly she considered just going home, but then decided against it. If he did came after all she wouldn´t want him to think she had stood _him_ up.

Eventually she pulled out her cellphone again and searched for his number, deciding that she´d give him a call to ask him what happened and then that would probably be it. She waited as the phone rang four times and just when she was afraid she was going to get his voicemail, he picked up with a gruff, distracted voice: _´Wellington.´_

Her stomach dropped when she realized that he had probably forgotten all about the farmer´s market and that she had obviously disturbed him while he was in the middle of something.

´Tim… It´s Ruth…´ she started tentatively.

´Ruth…?´ He responded slowly, his voice sounding surprised and sleepy now. A second later all hell broke loose.

´OH GOD!´ She could hear him curse and move around, until the sound of a rather loud crash came through the phone and he swore again.

´Tim, are you alright?´ she exclaimed worriedly.

´I bumped my head,´ he grumbled hoarsely. ´I´m sorry, Ruth… I overslept… What time is it?´

But before she could answer however, he groaned again. ´Almost eleven… are you at the bus stop?´

´I am,´ she replied quietly, feeling sorry for his distressed state.

´Of course you are… you´ve been waiting for an hour already. Oh god, Ruth, I´m _so_ sorry!´

Relief swept over her when his absence was so easily explained and it slipped into her voice. ´Don´t worry about it. Do you still want to go to the farmer´s market?´

´Yes!´ the tone of his voice made all her earlier worries perfectly unnecessary. ´How about I meet you at ´The King´s Crown´ instead though? I´ll try to get there as fast as I can.´

´Alright,´ she wasn´t able to keep the smile out of her voice, simply feeling happy that she got to see him after all. ´I´ll see you there then, but don´t go breaking your neck!´

´I´ll try,´ came his wry reply.

* * *

><p>By the time he got to his car he reflected sarcastically that breaking his neck was the one ordeal he´d had been spared. Taking things easy was not an option if you were already an hour late to meeting a woman who had agreed to come with you on your insistence in the first place. He was absolutely mortified about standing her up like that.<p>

And of course it went downhill from the second he got up. After scrambling out of bed, he´d stumped his toe rather hard against the bedpost. Limping slightly he had made his way to the bathroom and cringed when he´d gotten sight of his hazard-looking appearance in the mirror.

Working eight days straight and finishing off with a twenty-hour shift, due to two trauma calls didn´t exactly enhance his appearance. He´d come home at three o´clock that night and had dropped straight into his bed, not even bothering to take off his clothes. So even though he was late beyond reason, he simply had to take a shower if he didn´t want to repulse Ruth completely. Shrugging out of the clothes he´d been wearing for the past twenty-four hours he´d put on the hot water tap.

Soon the water streamed down onto the tiles and he´d waited the few seconds it usually took before the water heated up. Only this time it didn´t. Even a full minute later, the water was still ice-cold. Putting his trousers back on, he´d thundered downstairs to check up on the hot water tank, his toe still throbbing painfully.

A quick examination of the tank told him that the pilot flame had gone out. Fussing around with matches and too impatient to go slow, he´d messed around for a few minutes until the tank was finally working properly again. He´d rushed back upstairs, but realized it would still take another five minutes at least before the water had heated up.

Deciding to shave first, in a desperate attempt to save _some_ time, he hurriedly applied the foam on his cheeks and chin and picked up his razor. He had almost finished shaving when the razor slipped and he cut open his chin. Blood begun to trickle down and he´d closed his eyes briefly as not to scream in frustration.

Not bothering to bandage the cut he´d finally gotten into the shower. As the water poured down his face, he´d realized his mistake. Because of the running water, the cut on his chin kept bleeding. Pressing a washcloth to the injury he´d tried to wash his hair and himself as best as he could with only one hand available, which of course took three times as long as it normally would have.

Finally getting out of the shower, he´d dried his chin carefully and put a small plaster over the cut, before he proceeded to dry himself off and get dressed. As he hurried outside and got into his car, he checked his watch and winched as he noticed how the whole ordeal had cost him forty-five minutes. And it was still a ten-minute drive to ´The King´s Crown.´

Before he drove off, he pulled out his cellphone and quickly typed a text message to Ruth, letting her know she shouldn´t feel obliged to wait for him any longer, if she didn´t wish to. Goodness knew, she had already wasted enough of her time on him.

_´Dear Ruth,  
>Murphy´s Law has it in for me.<br>But am finally on my way.  
>Would understand if you don´t<br>want to wait any longer though.  
>Tim.´ <em>

Naturally he had to wait for every traffic light that he passed on the way and by the time he had parked his car near the pub his body was tense with pend up frustration.  
>After the rather brutal double shift yesterday and the short night with its rude awakening, combined with the stress of trying to get into the village as quickly as possible and the prospect of having to go to Harrogate that afternoon for a conference, he wasn´t sure any longer if he wished for Ruth to have waited for him or to have gone home. She would probably be mad as hell with him and rightly so. There really wasn´t any excuse for the way he had stood her up, only that he had been just too exhausted last night to remember to set his alarm. But that didn´t change to fact that it was now almost noon and that after waiting for him for two hours, she would undoubtedly be furious.<p>

He remembered the awful fights he´d had with Carol when they´d still been together. She had been irate whenever something had gone different from the way she had planned it and he had often received the brunt of her anger, even if there had been very little he could have done to fix the situation. She would either yell furiously at him, or give him the cold shoulder for days. And since this time he was fully responsible for his tardiness, he dreaded the fall out he was undoubtedly going to get from it. Suddenly he felt tired to the point of exhaustion. If anything, he just wanted to turn around, drive home again and sleep until it was time to leave for the conference. Squaring his shoulders, he resisted that impulse. After all, if she was still waiting for him, she deserved a face to face apology, as uncomfortable as their encounter may become.

Entering the quiet pub, he looked around and spotted her at a table in the far corner, sipping her coffee and staring outside, the sun playing across her hair. With a sinking heart he silently made his way over to her table. He had been looking forward to spending the morning with her and trying to expand their budding friendship, more than he´d cared to admit, even to himself. But now he felt he should count himself lucky if she wanted to have anything to do with him after today. Bracing himself inwardly for her anger, he tapped her shoulder lightly, causing her to startle slightly and look around.

´Hello…´ She greeted him with warm eyes, getting up and brushing her hand briefly over his upper arm. ´You made it.´

´I did… finally,´ he agreed, deeply embarrassed. ´Ruth, I am truly sorry for keeping you waiting all this time...´

´Don´t worry about it,´ she reassured him quickly. ´It´s not like you did it deliberately. Things like that happen.´

He searched her brown eyes for a moment, looking for any traces of anger but finding none. Relief swept through him and feeling his insides unclench, he smiled broadly at her, noticing she blushed a little. ´Do we still have time to go to the market?´

´What time do you have to be in Harrogate?´ she countered.

´At four o´ clock,´ he answered, his face falling as he realized there just wasn´t enough time to squeeze a trip to Skipton into it as well. ´That´s not enough time, is it?´

Ruth shook her head. ´No… I´m afraid not. The bus to Skipton passed by ten minutes ago. It´s going to take another twenty minutes until the next comes and then it´s a twenty minute drive to get there… by the time we´re there, we´d have to head back.´

´I´m sorry I´ve messed up your morning,´ he apologized again, unable to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

Goodness, Ruth realized, she had never received so many apologies from one man as she had in the past hour and she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable because of it. ´Stop beating yourself up about it,´ she answered quietly. ´We can still go some other time if you like… that market isn´t going anywhere.´

He smiled a little at her words, but he continued to look rather dejected. Looking carefully at his face she noticed his hair was still a little damp and that there were dark circles underneath his bloodshot eyes. He looked pale, even though he still had a bit of tan – a souvenir from his time in Tanzania, causing his skin to look somewhat greyish.

´Have you eaten already?´ she asked tentatively.

He shook his head. ´I haven't… I wanted to get here as soon as possible.´

´How about we have lunch here instead of going to the market?´ she suggested rather boldly. ´You look like you could use a cup of coffee.´

Relief flooded through him once again. At least she wasn´t so mad at him that she wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible.

They sat themselves down at the table and uncharacteristically taking charge, Ruth ordered them both lunch an two coffees. The coffee arrived first and they sat there, sipping the hot liquid in mutual silence. Eying him closely from across the table, Ruth watched as his rigid posture slowly mellowed somewhat.

´Had a rough week?´ she asked, realizing she had barely seen him in the past couple of days.

´You don´t know the half of it,´ he sighed. As the caffeine was filtering through his system he finally began to wake fully.  
>´Two trauma nights in a row. Last night wasn´t bad, it only took up a long time… but the night before that…´ his face darkened as he remembered. ´I was covering for a college in Skipton when I got called – a young woman who had taken an overdose of aspirin and alcohol. I tried to drain her stomach, but I was already too late.´<p>

Ruth´s eyes filled with horror at his words. ´How terrible… did she… did she plan for it to happen?´

He nodded gloomily. ´She left a note… I took it to her parents.´

´God… they must have been devastated,´ Ruth whispered softly. Then her worry switched to the man sitting across from her. He looked so sad and so utterly worn-out. All the strength and ease she usually associated with him seemed to have gone and she had the most irrational urge to reach out and take his hand in hers, just to offer him some semblance of comfort in his distress. She fought it though. It just wouldn´t be proper. Instead of comforting him it would probably only bewilder him, or cause him to jump to the wrong conclusions. And goodness knew what he would think of her then. ´What happened last night?´ she asked instead.

´I had to deliver a baby,´ he replied, his face brightening somewhat. ´Healthy boy, six week too early and already too stubborn for his own good. He had me up the most part of the night… I didn´t get home until three this morning.´

She matched his smile, but her eyes remained worried. ´You must be exhausted then. No wonder you slept straight through the alarm.´

´Actually, I completely forgot to even set it,´ he admitted sheepishly.

´I don´t blame you,´ she simply said. And that was it. As far as she was concerned there was nothing for him to apologize for any longer.  
>As their food arrived she changed the subject and as they easily chattered while they ate their lunch Tim felt he was finally starting to unwind completely. He watched her as she was telling him about something funny that had happened at the nursing home and he was completely captivated by the way her brown eyes danced as she told the story and how the tone of her voice conveyed her affection for the people she took care of. He marvelled at the extraordinary soothing effect her presence had on him. After the stressful week he´d had, she managed to ease his mind in a matter of minutes.<p>

Once they had finished their lunch, he suggested another coffee, eager to prolong their time together and felt unaccountably happy when she agreed.

´How are those driving lessons going?´ he then asked, moving on to a new topic.

´Great, I already went to the town hall to prolong my driver´s license,´ she answered happily. ´Those f lessons were just what I needed to regain my confidence on the road.´  
>Somehow during her marriage to Eddy they had gotten into the habit of him driving her around as he was usually the one who used the car. Without really noticing it at the time it had been another sacrifice to her independence and after the divorce it had also been one of the things she was eager to claim back. But after not driving for more than ten years and with her driver´s license expired, it had been difficult to – literally – get back behind the wheel. Even in a quiet village like Knapely, there was a lot more traffic these days than she was accustomed to. But after a few lessons to brush up her skills she now felt quite confident driving – wondering why she had ever given it up in the first place.<p>

´You know, I´ve been looking around for a small car,´ she told him. ´I found an ad in last week´s gazette that looks promising.´

´What sort of car are you looking for?´ he asked curiously.

´A red one,´ she replied enthusiastically.

He couldn´t help but laugh out loud at this typical female response. Still, he asked carefully: ´Do you know anything about cars?´

´Not a single thing,´ she admitted freely, shaking her head. ´But I´ll try not to get ripped off.´

Suddenly he was seized by a surge of protectiveness towards her. She was one of the most kind-hearted women he had ever met and he could easily imagine some con man taking advantage of her trusting nature and trying to sell her something that was at best half of a VW and half of an Hyundai badly welded together and sprayed red.

´If you want I can come with you,´ he suggested. ´I promise I won´t stand you up again,´ he added with a wry smile.

Good grief, he was certainly beating himself up over it, Ruth thought to herself. Still, she did appreciate the offer. As much as she tried to make the best of things as they were now, it was tiring sometimes to have to do absolutely everything yourself all of a sudden.

´That would be nice, thank you,´ she accepted gratefully, for the first time not really doubting whether or not he meant the offer and if she wasn´t inconveniencing him, but just accepting a kind gesture for what it was.

Once they´d finished their coffee, they left the pub and he insisted on giving her a ride home. As they sat in the car, their conversation still continued to flow easily and Ruth realized that it had been a long time ago since she felt so comfortable in the presence of a man.

´By the way, how is your intern doing?´ he asked as their conversation had gradually drifted back to the nursing home.

´Oh… she´s a nice girl and she takes direction well…´ Ruth replied, a hint of hesitance in her voice. Since a couple of weeks she had taken an intern under her wings. An enthusiastic girl of nineteen years old. Perhaps a tad too enthusiastic.

He picked up on it immediately. ´But?´ he asked, giving her a sideway glance.

´Nothing really,´ Ruth replied quickly. ´She´s perfectly alright.´

´But…?´ he asked again, amusement clear in his voice now.

´Oh well… she really is a nice girl it´s just that…´ Ruth doubted her next words for a second, fearing she sounded really ridiculous, but then continued. ´… she doesn´t have any sense of personal space and it really bothers me.´

´What do you mean by that?´ he asked surprised.

´Well… whenever she´s talking to me, or asking me something, she stands so close to me it makes me feel comfortable.´  
>She wryly joined in when he began to chuckle. ´I know it´s ridiculous and at first I thought I was just mad… but I can´t shake off the feeling that she´s just standing too close most of the time.<p>

The other day she was standing next to me, eating a biscuit and I ended up with crumbs in my hair…´

He laughed out loud at that before he managed a somewhat compassionate: "Oh Ruth…"

"Well, if you´re getting your crumbs in my hair, you're standing too close," Ruth insisted, slightly exasperated. "The thing is, she doesn't even know she is doing it and she doesn't mean any harm by it… I don't have the heart to say anything about it."

"But if it truly makes you so uncomfortable, then you should," he countered thoughtfully.

"And how am I supposed to tell her: 'Excuse me, but please take a few steps away from me?'" Ruth asked cynically.

"Well you could say…" he started, but then his mind drew blank. "Oh, I don't know, to be honest. But if it bothers you this much you should be able to tell her."

"I just don't want to defend or upset her," Ruth answered quietly.

She was biting her lip thoughtfully again. A little habit he found highly endearing. And rather distracting as well, to be honest. He focused his thoughts back to her words. "I think you're the least likely person in the world to cause offense," he told her warmly. "Perhaps you'll find the right moment to mention it soon."

"I hope so," she replied, doubt still obvious in her voice. As the car stopped in front of Maple Cottage, she shook her head as if to dislodge any unpleasant thoughts from her mind and turned towards him, offering a small smile.  
>"Thank you for lunch."<p>

"You're very welcome," he replied, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. "But thank you as well."

She blinked in surprise. "Whatever for?"

_For being so understanding. For listening to me. For raising my spirits again. For just being you. _

"Well…" he smiled rather shyly. "Too be honest, After the way I stood you up, I thought I was in for a very uncomfortable encounter when I entered the pub."

"Tim…" She just couldn't comprehend why this was such an issue to him. "After the week you've had it was perfectly understandable. It's not like you did it deliberately."

"Well, that never mattered before…" he replied darkly, before he was able to catch himself.

"It does to me…" she responded quietly. She raised his eyes to meet his. "Perhaps we could attempt to go to the farmer's market again someday?"

"I'd like that," he nodded, holding her gaze for a second longer. He watched as she got out of the car and continued to do so, until she had gone inside. A part of him wanted nothing more than to give up the conference entirely and find an excuse to spend the rest of the afternoon with her.  
>Knowing this was just idle wishing and with a head filled already with her voice and her smile, he started the engine and drove off to Harrogate.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you´re not too dissapointed they never made it to the farmer´s market! I´d like to hear what you think!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

With only an hour to spare before she had to leave, she still couldn't resist the temptation. The annual Christmas drink, organized for the staff of Knapeley's nursing home was about to start around five 'o clock that afternoon and she was already dressed for it, but her fingers were itching to finish the sculpting project she was working on at the moment. So pulling an old shirt over her smart skirt and blouse and kicking off her high heels she got back into her studio. Soon she became oblivious to the world around her as she slowly moulded and formed the clay until it took the shape she was already seeing inside her mind.

After twenty minutes or so she thought, she was startled back into the real world when she heard a knock on the back door. Thinking it was Annie, who had mentioned something about returning a book she had borrowed that afternoon and reluctant to get away, she simply called out: "I'm in here! Come on through."

A second later she almost jumped out of her skin when Tim appeared in the door, looking a little self-conscious. "Hello…" he offered quietly.

"I… oh…" she blinked furiously, needing a few seconds to compose herself again. Finally finding her voice back, she answered his greeting, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"I was on my way to the nursing home and I thought that perhaps we could go together," he told her.

As she became aware of the way the rain was splaying across the window, she realized once again what a thoughtful and considerate sort of man he was and she gave him a wide smile. "That would be nice… give me a second though to get my things…"

She shrugged out of the oversized shirt and put her heels back on. "Ready!" she announced then, turning around to face him again. She was already on her way to the door when she caught the amused grin on his face.

"What is it?" she asked bewildered.

"You have a smudge across your face," he pointed out.

Goodness, one of these days those dimples were going to be the death of her. Feeling her blush increasing, she frantically rubbed her cheek, trying to get rid of the stain, knowing she was ruining the make-up she had so carefully applied an hour ago in the progress.

"You're only making it worse," he pointed out, his grin widening. Making his way over to the sink in the corner of the room he held out his hand to her. "Come here… I'll get it off for you."

A little nervously, she crossed the room towards him as he drenched a washcloth underneath the running tap. She was now standing closer to him than ever before and as he cupped her clean cheek in his large hand and pulled her closer still, she felt the heat radiating from his body and his scent wash over her, causing her breath to hitch up in her throat.

The skin of her face was softer than he could have ever imagined and for a second he was completely taken in by her nearness, by the confused expression in her brown eyes and the way her hair tickled his wrist. She must have washed it earlier, because he could still smell a hint of something sweet – like honey almost. As her eyes fluttered close he concentrated on the task as hand. Slowly he lifted his hand and brushed the damp cloth over her cheek, almost fearing he would hurt her if he moved too roughly.

Out of reflex she closed her eyes as he lifted the washcloth to her cheek and when the cloth made contact with her skin, she felt goose bumps break out over her arms and a warmth spreading all though her body from where the cloth touched her face as she realized he had used the hot water tap and the cloth felt warm and soothing against her cheek. His movements were so light and soft that it felt more like a caress than a scrubbing.

When he pulled back she opened her eyes again, but only to discover that he had placed the cloth back on the sink and taken up a towel. Gently he dabbed her cheek until it was dry again, all the while staring into her eyes.

Normally his eyes were steel blue, but now, as she was slowly drowning into them, they seemed so much darker. And he was so close – so very close…

"There… all gone now…" his voice was hoarse and a tad breathless, but it was enough to break the spell.

"Thank you…" her heart hammering in her chest she took a step back, dislodging his hand from her face.

He took a deep, steadying breath and tried to focus his attention on something – anything else besides her. His eyes fell on the worktable she'd been sitting at minutes ago and his curiosity was immediately piqued. Taking a few steps closer he took in the project she was working on. Although it was nowhere near finished, it was already obvious what she intended it to become – a woman, sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees, her face resting on her arms, staring into the distance. There literally wasn´t a square angle in the entire figure, every curve was smooth and round. The posture of the woman caused it to radiated tranquillity, but at the same time a certain reserve.

"It's beautiful," he told her softly after a few seconds. "Have you been working on it for a long time?"

"I started on it today," she answered, coming to stand next to him. Usually she was very apprehensive about showing other people her work, especially when it wasn't finished yet, but she discovered she didn't really mind now. "And once I started I got carried away… as it usually goes when I start something new." She caught his gaze and smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

"I do," he insisted with some emphasis. "It's very…" He held his tongue before the rest of the sentence got away from him.

'_It's very you_,' he wanted to say. There was something peaceful, yet incredible fragile about the female figure that reminded him strongly of her. Best not to say that though, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

"You're really very talented, Ruth,' he said instead.

"Thank you." The smile she gave him was simply radiant and he felt his heart skip a beat.

"We'd better get going …" Walking ahead of him into the corridor, she pulled her coat from the hallstand and shrugged into it.  
>"By the way, did you already get an invitation to the WI Christmas reception?"<p>

"I did," he responded levelly. "Marie personally dropped it off."

Ruth gave a little snort at that. "I bet she did." Ever since Tim had first arrived in Knapely, the head of the WI department had considered him to be a very valuable asset to the village and as such had been very taken with him. Or, as Chris put it a bit more bluntly: " was wetting her knickers every time she caught sight of him."

For Tim this meant he had to endure a lot of teasing comments, particularly from Chris' husband Rod, who seemed to think the entire thing was just hilarious.

"I suppose she wouldn't hear of you coming up with an excuse not to attend, did she?" Ruth asked, trying to keep the amusement out of her voice.

"Should I want to find and excuse not to attend?" he shot back with a wry grin.

"Not really," Ruth reassured him. "Usually the WI receptions are a lot of fun. The first bit is obligatory dull with its speeches and such, but afterwards there's drinks and music – it's a good chance to catch up with everybody."

"Would you like to go together?" he asked, making a momentous effort to keep his voice light.

She was just putting on her gloves and looked up inquisitive at him, wondering if he meant it as casual as it sounded and hoping her reply would be clear enough. "Yes… I would. I'd like that a lot actually."

The grin on his face widened considerably, causing her stomach to flutter.

"Do you need protection from Marie?" she asked, unable to resist the opportunity to tease him a bit more.

"That too, but not entirely," he replied, rather enigmatically.

* * *

><p>Over the past months their friendship had progressed rapidly and they were spending more and more time in each other's company. They had finally made it to the farmer's market, a fortnight after their first, failed attempt, spending a good part of the day strolling past booths and stands. As he had promised, he came along when she went after a car ad, preventing her financial ruin when she was ready to trust the kind, elderly gentleman on the spot, while he discovered the odometer had been tampered with.<br>In return she got him hooked on sushi.  
>These days when they had both spend the night at the nursery home, watching over a dying resident, they went to have breakfast together and they had already spend several evenings at Maple Cottage, sharing a bottle of wine and talking deep into the night. She told him about her marriage to Eddy and how it had come under strain as she had slowly began to lose more of herself. He told her about his relationship with Carol and how his guilt over feeling he never quite met her needs had led to him completely disregarding what he wanted out of the relationship. Apart from these serious, and rather painful topics, they discussed about everything else that came up in their conversation, from childhood anecdotes to the latest village gossip.<br>But for some reason – as if by an unspoken agreement they always ended up at Maple Cottage. He had bought the house she used to live in before her divorce, he'd even briefly met Eddy at the final meeting at the real estate office, finalizing the transfer, but after she'd showed him around that one time, she never went back there again. Instead he always came to her.

* * *

><p>A week before the WI Christmas Reception, Annie, Chris and Ruth went to Harrogate on a shopping spree. Without telling the other girls, Ruth was on a mission to find the perfect dress for the upcoming event. Even though she had given it a lot of thought, she still wasn´t certain what Tim had meant by his invitation. Over the past months they had fallen into a habit of going together somewhere whenever it was convenient, always contributing it to their steady-growing friendship. However there was something different about this, they were both going anyway, with her being a member of the WI and its treasurer no less and Tim as the resident GP, on the particular invitation of the chairwoman. There was no reason to attend the reception so explicitly together. And yet he had suggested it, even gone as far as to call her later to tell her he´d pick her up and that she wasn´t to worry about anything, that he would take care of everything. She still didn´t know if it was a date or that he was just being considerate, but she resolved to make the most of this chance anyway. And that meant she had to shop for a dress.<p>

While Annie was more the type for casual dressy clothing and shopped accordingly, Chris had a knack for finding the little boutiques and shops, hidden between the large chain-stores. In one of them, as Chris was admiring a red leather jacket and Annie with a big frown edged on her forehead, tried to make head or tail from the poncho she was holding upside down, the conversation turned to Chris´ son Jem.

"How's he doing?" Annie inquired, sticking her arm through the one hole the piece of clothing offered.

"Alright I suppose…" Chris replied absent-mindedly. "He has a girlfriend these days…"

"Really? How nice for him!" Ruth replied enthusiastically.

Chris let out a small snort. "Well that remains to be seen… to be honest, the fun factor of their relationship is still totally lost on me."

"Don't you like his girlfriend?" Annie asked, finally putting the poncho back on the hanger with a look of distaste on her face.

"I haven't gotten to know her yet… she doesn't speak two words together." Chris grumbled. "Sometimes she whispers something to Jem to which he grunts something back and that's it. I don't ever catch them talking or even kissing for that matter. All they do is watch tv or exchange text messages."

"I hardly think they'll be kissing when you're around, not at that age," Annie pointed out.

"Rod was supposed to have a talk with him when he first started going out with her," Chris told. "You know, about taking responsibility and treating a girl with respect… but knowing Rod all he did was sneak him a beer and slap his shoulder."

"I think it's rather sweet if they're still so young and shy about their feelings," Ruth said smiling.

"Well, remembering what Rod was like when we first got together, I shouldn't be surprised," Chris replied with a small grin.

"Rod was shy?" Annie repeated, not quite believing her ears.

"Well… not shy exactly…" Chris answered thoughtfully. "It was just… we'd been friends for a couple of years, both part of a gang that used to hang out and go clubbing during the weekend. I'd known him for ages and then all of sudden he asks me if I wanted to catch a movie with him. I agreed and after that we went to several other, just the two of us. But it wasn't until the third or fourth one that I realized we were in fact dating – he had been so casual about it all along."

To Ruth the shop suddenly seemed to become rather warm. Was Tim casually trying to get her to date him or was there nothing more than friendship between them? Her own confused feelings on the subject made it rather difficult to look at the matter objectively. She simply had to find out.

Then from the corner of her eye she spotted it. Momentarily forgetting all about Chris and Annie she walked up to the tall mannequin which was wearing the most beautiful dress she'd ever seen. The dress was black, but had a few purple accents and the lining was made out of a deep purple, silky fabric. The bodice of the dress was rather tight, while broad straps entirely covered up the shoulders. From a little below the bust-line the skirt of the dress flew and waved down. The dress was absolutely gorgeous, but she wondered sceptically if it would ever look as good on her as it would on the plastic dummy.

"What are you looking at?" Chris asked her, coming to stand beside her.

"I was thinking about buying something nice for the WI Christmas Reception next week." Ruth replied quietly. As she was still staring at the dress in front of her, she never noticed the look that passed between her two friends.

"I think you should try it on," Annie said insistently.

"Oh… I don't know…" Ruth replied, still hesitating. Admittedly, the dress wasn't too revealing, but it was still a lot more daring than anything she had worn since… too long that she cared to remember.

"Just try it on," Chris chipped in as well, already beckoning a salesgirl over.

Five minutes later, Ruth was standing in the clothing booth, slowly sliding the dress over her head. To her surprise it fit her like a glove. Nervously she turned around in the floor-length mirror, smoothening down her skirts and adjusting the bodice. It was a beautiful dress and it did look nice on her. Only she wasn't certain if it wasn't too nice. Too daring. Too obvious.

"Are you going to show it to us?" came Chris' impatient voice.

Hesitantly she stepped outside, anxiously awaiting their judgement.

"Are you sure you want to waste a dress like that on a WI social event?" Chris asked incredulously after a few stunned seconds.

Ruth grinned, pleased with her friends' reaction. "I want to look nice for a change. And the invitation did say 'formal wear'"

"Are you dressing up for someone in particular?" Annie teased, causing Ruth to blush furiously. She mumbled an inaudible reply and quickly retreated in the booth to chance back. She still wasn't quite sure what she was feeling for Tim. If it was mere attraction or something deeper. After Eddy had left her, she had sworn to herself she wouldn't involve herself with anyone ever again. It just wasn't worth it. The heartache, the desperate knowledge that no matter how hard she tried, she never would be quite good enough, the walking on her toes to meet his expectations. And the grief and humiliation when after everything he'd just walked out on her and straight into the arms of another woman who apparently could offer him what she had failed at so miserably.

Suddenly her excitement evaporated and she felt like a fool. Putting the dress back on the hanger she berated herself inwardly. Tim wasn't interested in her that way – if he had been, he would have mentioned something already. For goodness sake, half the village was madly in love with him. And she had already something far more valuable: she could call herself his friend. And she would be a very great fool indeed if she were to ruin that friendship. The dress would go back on the rack and she would wear the black dress she had bought in California – the dress she had been wearing the first time she'd met…

"_Stop it, Ruth_!" she told herself sternly. It was time to stop playing pretend and become realistic.

* * *

><p><strong>As always, I´d like to hear what you think! <strong>


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: So I´m on a bit of a roll with this story...  
>Batwings79, fasten your cushion!<em>

**Chapter 6**

Of course she had forgotten to take into account how persuasive Annie and Chris could be, particularly when they teamed up together. The duo that had managed to get her to pose naked for a calendar had no trouble (or scruples) whatsoever to talk her into buying the dress, convincing her that she deserved to treat herself and if she wanted to look nice at the Christmas reception for _whatever_ reason (here Chris´ voice had become particularly insistent) she should just do so. And so she had let herself be convinced, already head over heels in love with the dress and with still this shimmering, persistent feeling that at least she wanted to find out what was or wasn´t there between Tim and her.

So she had bought the dress. And a pair of matching – and dangerously high heels. And see-through, shining black stockings.  
>She had spent the entire afternoon getting ready for the evening, taking a long, hot shower and really missing her bathtub, painting her nails and toenails, moisturizing her skin, brushing out her hair until it was soft and shining, deciding to leave it down and finally putting on the dress. When she was ready she stared at herself in the mirror. The dress certainly did wonders for her figure. As did the bra Chris had convinced her to buy. ("And for heaven's sake, Ruth, buy a pair of matching knickers. You can't go wearing your cotton whites underneath a dress like that!") She looked different; younger, almost like the girl she had been once. And yet, she couldn't entirely shake off the feeling of insecurity. Wasn't it too much? Wouldn't it be painfully obvious she was out on the hunt for the most eligible bachelor of the village? Trying to pull her thoughts away from that particular track, she put in the earrings that had once belonged to her grandmother – the one that Tim found for her.<p>

The sound of the doorbell startled her and she took a deep, shaking breath, trying to calm her raging nerves. She guessed it was sink or swim. She had either made an enormous error in judgement and read far too much into his casual invitation, or tonight would end in… well, at this point she wasn't certain where she hoped it would end in as long as she avoided his rejection. Carefully she made her way to the hall, flicking on the light as she passed it and unlocking the front door.

Tim was standing on the doorstep, framed by a heavy down-pour, a smile on his face. However, this smile disappeared quickly when he took her in. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped a little before a small gasp escaped him. "Wow… Ruth…" He finally managed to breath out, looking as if he didn't have enough eye to take her in.

She blushed so furiously she was certain she very much resembled a tomato at that moment. But when a gush of wind breezed through the corridor, she shivered slightly. "Hello Tim, won't you come in?" she asked quietly.

Her words seem to shake him out of his daze. "Yes… of course… I'm sorry… you're going to catch your death standing here…"  
>It wasn't until he hurriedly got in and closed the door behind him she had the opportunity to look at him. So distracted she was by the sharp tuxedo suit he was wearing that she didn't even notice he was still gazing at her intently.<p>

The suit made him look even taller and more distinguish and she felt a whole herd of butterflies doing summersaults in her stomach.

"You look beautiful, Ruth," he told her seriously, his eyes sweeping over her once more.

"Thank you. You look very smart yourself." Goodness, her face must look like it was on fire. "Let me just get my coat, alright?"

Did she have any idea how utterly she gorgeous she looked? he wondered. Or what she was doing to him? His eyes drifted to her feet. How she managed to move around on those heels was beyond him, but the curve of her ankle was certainly alluring.

Summoning quite some willpower he looked up again, seeing she had just pulled her coat from the hallstand. Stepping up behind her, he carefully took it from her hands.

"Allow me…" he said quietly, holding out the coat for her. As she slid into it gracefully, he noticed how close she actually was to him. He breathed in her scent. She wasn't wearing any perfume, for which he was grateful. Instead he smelled her freshly shampooed hair and the clean, sweet smell of her skin. The ceiling light caused her brown and golden hair to shine and when she tilted her head back to look up at his face he almost lost himself in her warm, brown eyes.

"Ready to go?" she asked softly.

'No!' his mind almost screamed at him. The urge to touch her, to take her in his arms and make her forget all about the WI reception was overwhelming. With a lot of restraint he stepped back and gave her a small grin. "Yes. Do you have an umbrella though? It's like the deluge out there."

He held the umbrella above them as they hurried down the garden lane to his car and he relished in the opportunity to wrap his arm around her shoulders to keep her close.

* * *

><p>They had chosen the church as the venue of the Christmas Reception, much to Chris' aggravation. "It's cold, it's drafty and no matter what you do with it, it always looks like a church!"<p>

When Tim and Ruth entered Chris, Rod and Annie were already there.

"Good to see you, mate," Rod greeted the other man jovially, looking highly uncomfortable in his tuxedo. Over the past months they had often shared a pint in the pub together or stopped for a chat in the early hours of the morning when Tim was out for a run and Rod was sitting at the pond, staring intently at his fishing pole. When no reply came forward he followed Tim's gaze and grinned as he realized the man was oblivious to anything but the sight of Ruth taking her coat off.

"Did you and Ruth come together?" Rod asked amused.

"Hmm… yes… we did," Tim replied absent-mindedly, dragging his gaze away from Ruth. "Hello Chris," he greeted his friend's wife, a slightly embarrassed tinge in his voice.

Chris' wide grin didn't show a trace of annoyance however. "Good to see you, Tim."

"God… could they have chosen a more depressing location for the most boring event of the year?" Celia's voice rang through the church hall.

"For heaven's sake, keep your voice down," Annie hissed, spotting Viviane, the WI's secretary and Marie's faithful right hand only a few feet behind them.

"Well, I suggested the Bellaford Hotel or the King's Crown for that matter," Celia replied defiantly. "But of course Marie deemed it inappropriate, so instead we'll have our bums frozen off before the first droll speech is done."

"The chairwoman's quite right in her assessment," a brusque voice barked. "The church does qualify more for a WI assembly."

Tim barely managed to hide his grin as Rod rolled his eyes at him. Frank Moorsem was a military man to his last cell and Tim had often wondered how a vivacious and often cheeky woman like Celia could be married to a man that lived starkly by every rule he could think of and approached everything in life on a strictly rational bases.

However, when Ruth came to stand behind him, he forgot all about their extraordinary match and just enjoyed the feeling of her standing so close besides him. The first part of the evening was, as she had predicted obligatory boring. From the artificial snorts that erupted occasionally from the audience it was obvious that the mayor held the same type of speech and made the same jokes each year. He was succeeded by Marie and as much as it pained him to admit it: she was not born to be a public speaker. She prattled on for a good twenty minutes until the very last soul in the audience had lost track of what she was talking about. And when she proceeded to describe a humorous cartoon she had read somewhere, taking another five minutes to do so, people started to give up any pretence of listening and started to whisper none too quietly among themselves. In front of them Chris and Celia were creating a bit of a riot. They had been whispering comments back and forth all the while and now they had managed to work themselves into a fit of laughter. From the few bits he heard of their conversation it was obvious that Marie was the grateful subject of a lot of their comments.

He glanced sideways to find that Ruth was still looking at Marie, supposedly listening to the speech. But as he looked closer he noticed the far-away expression in her eyes. Unable to resist he bend down and whispered in her ear: "You certainly appear to be an attentive audience."

She looked up, a small grin tugging at the corner of her mouth and a twinkle in her eye. "Only because I've been redecorating Maple Cottage for the past forty minutes."

He grinned back and for propriety's sake tried to follow her example and at least pretend to listen to Marie. His thoughts however remained entirely focused on the woman standing next to him. In front of them, Annie was making a futile attempt to keep Chris and Celia somewhat in check. Marie had apparently noticed that she was rapidly losing the attention of her audience and was trying to make up for it by talking faster and somewhat shriller.

After Carol he had thoroughly had his fill of women who needed to make one snarky comment after the other. Her negativity and complaining had often wore him down. Ruth's quiet patience and her ability to take a situation as it came and make the best of it had been a breath of fresh air after that. He vividly remembered the day, a few months ago now when they were supposed to go the farmer's market, but he'd overslept. He had been certain then that she would bite his head off for it but instead she had been nothing but understanding. And she had turned the ruined morning into a comfortable, leisured lunch, never bothering with complaining about what could have been or should have been. In retrospect, that had been the moment he had fallen like a ton of bricks for her. From that moment on he had begun to seek her out more and more, slowly letting his guard down around her and discovering as the months progressed that she really was the warm and kind-hearted woman he was looking for.

Marie had finally concluded her speech and the enthusiastic round of applause she received was more caused by sheer relief than anything else.

Now that the formal part of the evening was over the atmosphere definitely picked up. Music started to fill the room and the first couples started to make their way to the dance floor. They were standing in a small circle, enjoying their drinks and chatting idly when suddenly Celia gasped. "Oh hell, Marie is on her way over here and she looks like she's on a mission."

Frank eyed the sturdy woman that was rapidly approaching their little group with purposeful strides and nodded in agreement. "Solid appraisal, my dear."

"Tim, run!" Rod muttered, grinning from ear to ear. While he was being poked in the ribs by Chris, Annie groaned softly. "Oh Marie… what were you thinking?"

Apparently, Marie had decided to dress up for the occasion as well. While she had been given her speech most of her dress had been covered by the jacket she'd been wearing, but now it had come off, revealing the dress to its fullest, leaving the rest of them speechless.  
>It was terrible outdated for one. Ten years ago it had probably been a nice fit, but now it simply wasn't. And the fact that it happened to be a strapless dress wasn't helping the situation one bit. Looking around him, Tim discovered that the other men were having a bit of a struggle to find a spot to focus their attention on as well. Behind Marie came a friendly looking, unfamiliar man with a rather miserable expression on his face.<p>

'Good evening all!" Marie cried merrily, her gaze solemnly fixed on Tim. "What did you think of the speech?"

A highly uncomfortable silence fell over the group and for the life of him, Tim couldn't think of an appropriate reply. After a few seconds Marie's gaze faltered and she looked around the circle, the first hint of insecurity appearing in her eyes. The silence continued for a few more agonizing seconds while everyone desperately tried to avoid her gaze, until Ruth saved the moment.

"You have obviously put a lot of thought in your speech, Marie. It really showed."

"I have, thank you!" Marie replied, her face brightening considerably. "Well, it is quite a responsibility every year to deliver a speech that substantially reflects everything the Women's Institute stands for…"

Before Marie was given the chance to repeat her speech one more time, Annie interrupted her. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your company?" she asked smiling, looking to the man standing behind her.

'Oh… yes… I'm terribly sorry…" Marie chirped. "Please allow me to introduce you to Patrick McKinney. He recently moved to Knapely to take over the real estate firm on Highstreet." After this extremely brief introduction she turned her attention back to Tim. "As a fellow newcomer to Knapely you can attest to what a welcoming and warm place our village is, can't you?" The wide smile she gave him was positively swooning.

It was one of those occasions when Tim felt grateful for his height, it gave him a rather clear view of any possible escape route as the urge to simply bolt became almost too much.

And then Frank spoke up.  
>"Your strategy for ensuring the ´warm and welcoming´ aspect of the village of Knapely is highly admirable, madam," he stated matter-of-factly, still staring at her dress.<p>

A stunned silence descended after his words. Celia was staring at her husband, her eyes wide as saucers and a shocked expression on her face. Rod, who had unfortunately just taken a sip prior to Frank's statement was now coughing up beer and Chris had ducked behind him, her face hidden in her hands and her shoulders shaking with laughter.  
>Marie was looking around with a rather dumbfounded expression on her face.<p>

Tim risked a look at Ruth and knew immediately it would be his undoing. Over the months he had discovered a great many little traits about her that he adored. The way she bit her lip when she was worrying about something. The way her smile always started slowly and a little timidly at the right corner of her mouth and gradually filled her entire face and of course her large, beautiful brown eyes. But very high up his list was also this: whenever she tried to stop herself from laughing her faced flushed red up to the roots of her hair. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to hold back much longer her grabbed her hand and started to pull her along with him. While they were walking away, they could just make out how Celia was dragging her husband away to prevent him for causing any more harm and Annie engaging Marie in a spirited discussion on how welcoming newcomers was such a practical consequence of the WI philosophy.

Still holding her hand, Tim led her to the dance floor. When they were well out of earshot of the others they finally collapsed in laughter.

"Good heavens… poor Marie…" Ruth giggled, a trace of pity evident in her voice. "Frank can be so blunt sometimes." Somehow her hand had found its way up his arm, while his other arm was sliding around her waist. Easily falling into the rhythm of the music – thankfully the current song wasn't too up tempo Tim couldn't help but ask: "Do you think Frank intended the comment the way it came out then?"

Ruth shook her head, enjoying the way they fell seemingly effortlessly into the dance. "I've known Frank for ages and he wouldn't stray. It doesn't agree with his moral code of conduct. But he does tend to say things the moment they appear in his head. Celia knows this. They are both very much alike in that regard with their 'look, but don't touch - philosophy.' Still, he'll probably sleep on the couch for the rest of the month."

His left arm was now around her waist while his right hand was on her upper arm. Pulling her a fraction closer he breathed in the smell of her hair once again. "I'm surprised they've invited a DJ for this type of event," he observed.

She laughed heartily at that and he felt his heartbeat speed up at the sound of her laughter. He loved hearing her laugh. "Actually, it's the one thing Chris can cry victory over," she told him. "She wanted another venue for the reception but she was overruled, she didn't want to invite mayor Timmins to give a speech, but she was outnumbered, but when it came to the music she got her way."

The song ended and was followed by a slower, much more intimate one. Immediately the lights dimmed, safe for a few spots that slowly swept across the dance floor. Even when she was wearing her high heels, Tim was still a great deal taller than she was and as she felt how he pulled her even closer, his right hand slowly moving from her arm to her back, she summoned her courage and rested her head against his shoulder, her heart hammering in her chest as she did so. In response his hand moved up over her back, between her shoulder blades until his fingers brushed against the sensitive skin of her neck, causing a shiver to run down her spine and goose bumps to from on her arms.

It felt good to be in his arms, she decided, closing her eyes and concentrating on the way their bodies swayed in unison to the music. She shivered again when his fingers began to stroke the strands of hair at the nape of her neck and involuntarily she snuggled a little closer to him.

Her hair felt so unbelievably soft and silky that he had to resist the urge to bury his hand in it. Holding her warm body close he marvelled at how well they fitted together. The world around him ceased to exist and all he was aware of was the wonderful, amazing woman in his arms. Her head was safely tucked under his chin and as the spotlight glided over them he could make out the tiny smile that played around her lips and faint blush that tinged her cheeks. Her hand was resting on his chest, right over is heart and he wondered fleetingly if she could feel his frantic heartbeat through the layers of clothing.

When the song ended and was followed by a livelier one she pulled back reluctantly and looked up in his eyes. He looked as dazed as she felt, but his hands remained firmly on her waist. She offered him a hesitant smile and her stomach fluttered when he returned it, his dimples showing.

"Do you want to go back?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

She glanced for a moment to direction of the bar. Rod, Frank, Chris and Celia were still talking while Annie and – what was his name again? - Patrick something were sitting at a table, apparently deep in conversation. Looking back at him she shook her head. "No."

_I want to stay right here. With you. _

* * *

><p>Both of them had to work the next day so they were among the first to leave the reception. The rain had stopped and as they made their way back to the car, Ruth breathed in the cold winter air, trying to calm herself. They didn't talk much on the ride home. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but it was heavy with anticipation. When they pulled over at Maple Cottage he walked her to the door. Standing underneath the deep yellow light of lantern next to the door he was quickly losing himself once again in the depths of her eyes that seemed to glow with warmth and tenderness.<p>

"Tim…" her voice was barely above a whisper. "You know how much your friendship means to me, don't you?" She had to say something, anything to convey to him how much he had come to mean to her in the last couple of months and this seemed like a good place to start.

He nodded slowly and smiled. "It means the world to me, Ruth." Leaning down he kissed the corner of her mouth, lingering for a few moments before pulling back, brushing his nose against hers as he did so. The way her eyes sparkled with happiness only added to the turmoil going on inside his head.

"Sleep well," he whispered, gently squeezing her hand before turning away and walking back to his car.

* * *

><p>He drove home in a haze. Once he had parked in front of his house he leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he furiously slammed the steering wheel in front of him with both his hands. "You great, blundering fool!" he cursed out loud.<p>

What had stopped him? What had stopped him for kissing her the way he had wanted to do for weeks now? Was it all the dancing they had done? The way she had looked at him? The moonlit night? The dress… _oh god… that dress…_? Why on earth had he passed up the perfect chance to show her how he felt about her?

He knew the answer to that. The moment she had said the word _friendship_ his nerve had failed him. It had seemed like such a good idea when he had first met her. Becoming her friend first, before he ran the risk to have his heart smashed again. After Carol he had vowed to guard his heart more carefully, even believed it would be better if he gave up the notion of being in a relationship entirely. Then he had met Ruth. The attraction had been there from their first conversation at that hotel bar in Hollywood as she had captivated him with her kindness and her courage.

When he had met her again in Knapely he had been too busy at first to entertain any thoughts of getting to know her better. He'd been setting up his practise and was trying to find his way around the village. And apart from that, she was going through a rather devastating divorce. As he had become more friendly with Rod and Chris they had told him bits and pieces about Ruth's ex-husband. From a few poignant comments Chris had made he had come to understand how much of a jerk this Eddy had been to Ruth. There were many forms of cruelness and in his book blatant indifference and disregard was one of them. Let alone the numerous affairs he'd had. To him it was completely incomprehensible how anyone could treat Ruth – who wouldn't hurt a fly if she could help it – like this.

He knew she had been hurt. He knew Eddy had shaken her confidence and her feeling of self-worth. He had noticed during the first months of their friendship how hesitant she sometimes was, how she was often inclined to succumb to the wishes or wants of someone else. He had made a point of making sure he always asked her opinion and as their friendship had progressed he'd rejoiced in the fact that she became more and more herself around him and unafraid to state what she wanted or preferred.

His admiration for her had only grown as he had watched how she had picked up the pieces and build a life for herself again. If he were to believe Chris – and he had no reason to doubt her, Ruth had flourished once her divorce was through and her independence had done her a world of good. And it was exactly this that made him apprehensive. She was happy now – probably happier than she had ever been. Would she be willing to give that up for him? Would she be happy with the reality that his work would always be a big part of his life?

When she had told him how much their friendship meant to her he had realized he couldn't bear the thought of losing that. If she didn't return his feelings, if any of his declarations drove her away he would lose her. He had been completely truthful to her when he'd told her that her friendship meant to world to him. The problem was, she meant even more.

Sighing deeply he gazed out of the misted car window and looked at his house. There was this other thing of course that made it hard, if not impossible for them to be together. But after tonight, at least he may have found a way to change that.

* * *

><p>She waited until his car drove away before opening the front door and making her way through her bedroom to the bathroom, dropping her coat on the bedroom chair as she passed it. Once inside the bathroom she flicked on the light and gazed at herself in the mirror, barely recognizing her own reflection. Her face was flushed. She wondered briefly if there had been a point during the evening when she hadn't been like this. But her eyes were shining with happiness and excitement. Gingerly she reached out and brushed her fingertips over the spot where he had kissed her, still feeling the soft pressure of his lips there.<p>

Humming softly to herself she got out of her dress and carefully hung it away in her wardrobe, thanking her lucky stars and Chris and Annie for having bought it. She changed into her pyjamas and dressing-gown and carefully cleaned her face. Barefoot she went into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea before going to bed. While the water was heating up she scratched Ollie behind his ears and prepared his dish.

Images of the evening flashed before her eyes and she almost felt giddy with excitement. He was interested in her. He might even been in love with her already. There still was a lingering feeling of insecurity inside her, but she recognized it had probably more to do with herself than with the reality. No man would hold her like that, look at her like that and kiss her like that if he wasn't feeling at least something for her. The sheer potential of it drove away every thought of tiredness or sleeping.

The water had just began to boil when she heard the doorbell rang. Frowning she looked at her watch. Who on earth would call at a quarter past eleven at night? Then a thought crossed her mind, setting the butterflies in her stomach off again: it could be Tim. It was a little unlikely, but then again, who else could it be? Filled with nervous anticipation she pulled her dressing gown tighter around herself and made her way over to the front door, opening it rather enthusiastically.

The figure on the doorstep had his back turned to her and was clad in a black, leather jacket. He raised his hand to a car that was just about to drive away and called out: "Thanks for the ride, Jack!" Then he turned around and Ruth found herself rooted to the spot in shock. She had recognized his voice, but only when he turned around she dared to believe it.

_"Eddy!_

What are you doing here?"

* * *

><p><strong>I´d like to hear what you think!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews, nice to pull the rug from under you... I intend to brush up the previous chapters of ´Women of Yorkshire´ one of these days, since I discovered, since I spotted a few errors when I was reading the chapters through the other day. But here you go for now... _

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

For a few seconds she could only stare – shocked and bewildered.

"Hello Ruth." Eddie smiled causally, displaying a studied, boyish attitude that greatly unnerved her somehow. It wasn't how she remembered him. It wasn't the disgruntled, bored man that she'd divorced a year and a half ago.

"What are you doing here?" she repeated tonelessly.

"Can I come in at least?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "I haven't seen you in ages."

Before she could really think it through, she stepped aside, allowing him to pass her. It was only when he went into the living room before her that she realized he was carrying a backpack.

"So this is where you ended up in?" he commented, looking around him. From the look on his face she couldn't really determine if he meant it in a positive or a negative way. At the moment she didn't really care either.

"Eddie… why are you here?" she asked a third time, allowing a note of annoyance to slip into her voice.

"Look… I just wanted to know how you are… you know, we haven't really spoken since that divorce came through and I was in Knapely anyway so…"

Ruth glanced at her watch. "You wanted to know how I was doing at a quarter past eleven at night?" she asked incredulously.

He gave a small shrug and avoided her gaze. "Alright… I'm in a bit of a spot to be honest," he admitted then. "I met up with Jack tonight, you know, to catch up and go for a few drinks…"

Of course she knew exactly what the meant. Jack Berkley had been Eddie's closest friend and Ruth never could stand the sight of him. Whenever they got the chance they'd spend a night at the pub, mostly during the weekends when Ruth was hoping for some time with Eddie when his busy workweek was over. What had annoyed her most though was the fact that Jack's wife Eileen, who had the reputation of being a bit of a harpy had managed to tell her husband every now and then that he ought to stay home, while she could beg and plead with Eddie all she wanted, but he had never reclined a night at the pub just for her sake.

"Anyway…" Eddie continued, "I was supposed to stay over at Jack's tonight, but Eileen wouldn't have it. Normally I would just stay the night at the old place, but since that's been sold now…" He looked at her hopefully, "I was hoping you'd have a bed for me?"

Whatever she had expected, it was never that. "I… I don't know Eddie…" she started, her mind in a turmoil. He had left her. He had made it absolutely clear that he wanted to have nothing to do with her anymore. She'd never expected him to come back – for whatever reason.

"Oh… come on, love…" he was advancing on her slowly. "After sixteen years… you won't throw me out, would you? The last bus to Ilkley is already gone."

It was raining again, she could hear it clatter against the window and her resolve began to waver. It was the most dreadful weather. And he only needed a place to sleep… after sixteen years of marriage, didn't she at least owe it to him to help him out?

She was still biting her lip and doubting her decision when he came to stand in front of her.  
>"Ruthie…" he started softly, reaching out to place his hand at the back of her neck. She knew that tone of voice, remembered it from so long ago. It was the voice he'd use when he wanted her – he hadn't used it for years. <em>Not to her at least. <em>

She felt herself become rigid under his touch.

"Look," she said flatly, looking away from him. "You can stay on the couch if you want to. But only for tonight. I'll get you a blanket and a pillow."

"Alright…" he sounded disappointed, but she choose to ignore it. Hurrying to the build-in closet in her bedroom she didn't even look properly, just blindly groped for the extra blanket she kept there, a spare pillow and a sheet and brought the items back to the living room. Quietly she pointed him to the bathroom, thankful that she had already finished in there.

Once he'd got in, she picked up Ollie and went into her bedroom, not quite knowing what else to do with herself. She crawled underneath the duvet while Ollie curled up near her feet and she listened to the sounds coming from the bathroom first and later from the living room. It was odd to hear someone else bustle around in her house. She was so used to the silence, to her privacy now that the presence of someone else made her nervous.

Finally everything became quiet and she turned around in bed, trying to get comfortable. But as much as she tried to lie perfectly still, take calm breaths and count sheep, she couldn't manage to fall asleep. Instead she felt herself growing more tense and nervous with each passing minute. And when the loud noise of Eddie's snores penetrated through the closed door she gave a frustrated grunt and turned back to her side again, curling up in a tight ball.

She wondered how many drinks he'd had – judging from the forest he was currently sawing down and the fact that he'd been out with Jack he'd had quite a few. Suddenly she felt afraid. What had she been thinking allowing him to stay here? What right did he have to barge in here in the middle of the night and demand a place to stay? And why on earth had she agreed to it? Maple Cottage was her home, her sanctuary and in the eighteen months she'd been living here she hadn't felt afraid once. But she was now. She was scared, uncomfortable and anxious in her own bed and only because Eddie was back.

Why was he here? What did he want from her? Had he honestly been trying to make a pass on her earlier? But what about that other woman? Was he now cheating with her on the same woman he'd been cheating her with? The more she thought about it, the more worked up she got. Suddenly the WI Christmas Reception felt like a lifetime away. The dress.. Tim… dancing in his arms… that brief kiss… it felt as if it hadn't happened. Or had happened to someone else. For all of a sudden she felt as if she'd reverted back in time, back to the days where her entire world had revolved around Eddie.

Ollie got up from the foot end of the bed and made his way over to where she was lying. Carefully he nudged his head and body between the arms she'd pressed so tightly against herself. After a few turns he snuggled himself against her stomach, between her arms. Soothed somewhat, she scratched his head for a bit and slowly drifted off to a restless, fitful sleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning she felt absolutely haggard. She woke up twenty minutes before her alarm clock went off and wearily got out of bed. Ollie was already pacing in front of the bedroom door, meowing loudly.<p>

"Yes… I know… you want to get out…" she muttered yawing, putting on her dressing gown. She opened the door and was greeted by the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. Apparently Eddie was already up. Slowly she paddled into the living room, feeling every trace of the past, stressful night in her body. With a deep sigh she went into the kitchen first to make coffee and then back to the living room to clean up the couch. Just as she had finished folding the blanket and the sheet, Eddie emerged from the bathroom, wearing a pair of jeans (a bit too tight, she noticed) and a white shirt.  
>"Do you know the bathroom sink is leaking?" he asked.<p>

"Good morning," she replied curtly. "Yes, I know, I have someone looking at it this weekend. If you´re done in there I´m going in to brush my teeth."

Without really waiting for his reply, she brushed passed him and almost fled into bathroom, firmly locking the door behind her, something she usually never did. Maple Cottage had never felt too small to her, but right now Eddie seemed to take up all its space and she was starting to feel constricted. Quickly she brushed her teeth and tried to avoid looking at herself in the mirror. She couldn't really stand to look at herself at the moment. With her pale face, the deep circles underneath her eyes and every line visible she felt she looked every bit her age.

She had to leave for work in a little of an hour and she really ought to get dressed now, but for some reason she couldn't stomach the idea of changing while Eddie was still in the house. She just wanted him to leave, plain and simple.  
>Still clad in her dressing gown she made her way back into the living room, finding Eddie sitting at the table, reading the newspaper and sipping coffee.<p>

"Look, if you want breakfast there's some cereal in the cupboard above the sink and milk in the fridge," she started. "I don't want to hurry you, but I have to leave in half hour…" If she got him out before that time, she'd have time to change and get ready before she had to leave for work.

"Where do you have to be this early in the morning?" he asked surprised and displeased.

"At the nursing home… I have a job now, Eddie," she snapped back. She felt she wasn't being fair on him. After all, she had allowed him to stay – even though she regretted that now very much. But she just couldn't wait to get rid of him. Now more than ever she realized she simply didn't want him in her life anymore.

Going into the kitchen, she put some cat feeds in a bowl and placed it on the floor next to the water bowl. When Ollie didn't immediately came running like he usually did when he heard the sound of the cat feeds hitting the bowl, she frowned. Stepping back into the living room she looked around for him, but couldn't spot him anywhere.

"Have you seen Ollie?" she asked Eddie.

"Come again?" he mumbled, barely looking up from his newspaper.

"Ollie… my cat," she repeated impatiently.

"Oh…" Eddie finally looked up and Ruth could tell he was getting as annoyed as she was already feeling. "I put it outside. You know I can't stand animals in the house, Ruth."

"You WHAT?" she spat, turning around on her heels and storming out of the front door. The rain pour had stopped, but a dreary, cold drizzle hit her in the face. She looked around for her cat and when she couldn't see him she called out his name. The drizzle was getting into her eyelashes and damping her hair and standing on the garden lane she turned around in circles, almost ready to cry.

A soft, miserable meow came from underneath the shrub and when she kneeled down, she could just make out Ollie's big, yellow eyes staring at her from underneath soaked and dripping leaves.

"Ollie…" she cooed softly. "It's alright… come here, boy… it's alright." As fast he could on his short, fat legs, the cat scampered from underneath the shrub and hurried over to where she was kneeling down, ready to be scooped up in her arms.

Never minding how wet and cold he was, Ruth cuddled him close.

"Ruth…. _Ruth!_" Apparently Eddie had followed her to the door and was now standing on the threshold, peering anxiously outside, a mortified expression on his face. "Ruth! Get back in here! You're in your dressing gown, for god's sake!"

She closed her eyes for a moment and slowly stood up, still cradling Ollie. He had always been like that. He had always been so worried how about how they appeared in public. And somehow he had always seemed to be embarrassed by her.

"Don't laugh so loud."

"Stop fretting with your purse."

"Are you _really_ going to wear that sweater?"

With as much calm and dignity as she could muster she walked back into the house. Once inside she made sure the door was closed before she turned to him, her eyes fuming. "You had absolutely no right to throw my cat out in the rain!" she hissed, her voice low with anger.

"Oh for crying out loud, don't be so dramatic!" he shot back. "It's only a stupid cat."

"It is _my_ cat," she yelled back, furious now. "And _my_ house. You don't have a say whether he stays or goes." Uneasy by the loud noises, Ollie started to wriggle in her arms and briefly she bend down to put him to the ground. "What do you want from me, Eddie?" she asked then, straightening up and looking him in the eye.

"Look…" he started uncomfortably. "I know we've hit a rough spot lately, but I still think we could make it work… you and me…"

"A rough spot…" she repeated incredulously. "We've been divorced for over a year now. You cannot think… you want to get back together? What about…" she realized she still didn't know the name of that woman she'd met only once in that restaurant in Ilkley.

"Look, that's over," he replied. "It was just a fling, nothing more. Something I had to get out of my system. It's you I married, Ruth!"

"You cheated on me," she said softly, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice. "And I don't even know if she was the only one. You really expect me to take you back, after that?"

"Oh, like you are the holy bloody virgin Mary," he scowled. "You're ready to take your clothes off for everyone."

"It wasn't like that and you know it," she bit back at him. "It was _one_ photo-shoot, it was _one _photographer and it was for a good cause. There was nothing distasteful or seedy about that calendar."

"You think I like having the entire nation looking at my wife's private bits?" he shouted angrily, slowly turning red in the face.

"I guess as much I like the idea of you shoving your private parts into…" she decided that she really didn't need to finish that sentence.

"It was just a bloody affair!" he yelled back, getting more worked up with each passing minute.

"It was just a photo-shoot," she replied and couldn't help the small smile when she added: "Apparently something I needed to get out of my system."

After that he just blinked at her, mouth slightly agape. "Since when did you turn into a cranky, bitter hag?" he eventually asked spitefully.

"I just stopped being your doormat, Eddie," she answered calmly. There was a great sense of liberation now that she was finally being able to tell him the things she'd been thinking for the past eighteen months.

"So, you won't get back together?" he asked, a disbelieving look on his face.

After all the things he'd said to her, she wondered why on earth he actually wanted this in the first place, but she shook her head. "No Eddie. Not in a million years."

"Fine. If you rather live out your days in this chicken coop," he spat, indicating his surroundings. "Suit yourself."

"I will, Eddie, don't worry," she answered resigned. "I think it best if you left now."

He didn't speak another word as he grabbed his things together and stormed past her. She heard the front door slam shut and finally allowed herself to take a deep breath again. Her house was finally her own again.

* * *

><p>With her hands shaking and her head still reeling, she did manage to get into her work uniform: a light-blue pair of baggy trousers and a shirt of the same colour. Barely on time, she managed to park her car and rushed inside, trying to get her disorganized thoughts under control. Right now she needed to focus on her work and if truth be told, she was glad she did have something to distract her from the havoc Eddie had been creating in her mind in the past couple of hour hours.<p>

In the nurses lounge she put her coat and purse in her locker and pinned her nametag and brooch watch to her uniform. Ready for the day now, she stepped outside, her face an thoughts brightening when she spotted Tim, standing a few yards away, talking to the head of department. Immediately she felt a great sense of relief and confidence wash over her. Eddie was history. He was finished and done with. And that part of her life was finished as well. She had a new life now, one she felt happy with, one she was in control of. And despite Eddie's degrading comments, she wouldn't have it any other way. Just looking at Tim, it came all flooding back at her, the reception, the way she had felt in her sexy and alluring dress, the way he had made her feel, staring in her eyes, his fingers playing with her hair. Smiling softly, she slowed her steps so that when the head of department walked away she could step up beside him.

"Good morning," she greeted him, barely able to keep the excitement out of her voice. But when he turned around to look at her, she was taken aback by the angry look in his eyes.

"Morning," he grunted back, barely looking at her.

"Tim… is something the matter?" hesitantly she reached out and placed her hand on his arm. Immediately she could feel his tension.

He shook his head and chewed the inside of his cheek, as if he wasn't sure whether or not to reply. Finally, after a few tense moments, he seemed to reach a decision and grabbing her by the elbow he opened the door to the supply storeroom and pushed her inside.

Surprised and a little disturbed by his unexpected behaviour she looked up at him. "Tim… what's going on?"  
>His eyes were still blazing and there was a deep frown above them. And from the way he was clenching his jaw she could tell something had obviously upset him greatly. But when he turned around to look at her, she realized with a small start that his anger was directed at her.<p>

"Is it true?" he demanded.

"Is what true?" she asked bewildered.

"Are you and Eddie getting back together? Did he spend the night with you?" His voice was short and measured and she barely recognized him from the gentle, considerate man she'd come to known.

Already worked up from her earlier fight with Eddie she slipped right back into argument-mode. "Excuse me? Who told you that?"

"I ran into Jack Berkley this morning, as he was delivering the milk… he told me he'd dropped Eddie off at your house last night – said he hoped the two of you 'had gotten it on.'"

The first thing she was going to do when her shift had ended was throttle that gossiping, meddling fool of a Jack, Ruth decided. Then she turned her attention back to Tim.

"Eddie and I are not going to get back together," she reassured him. "Not a chance."

"But he did spend the night with you, didn't he?" Tim insisted, his temper not lessening in the slightest.

"He showed up last night, right after you had brought me home," she started to explain. "He said he needed a place to stay and I let him sleep on the couch. He left his morning… that's all that happened, I promise…" she hated the pleading note that had entered her voice. Why was she defending herself to him? Why was it so important that he knew really nothing had happened between them?

"And you couldn't just tell him to get a room above the King's Crown?" he asked through clenched teeth.

It was such a simple solution she almost groaned out loud, vexed at her own stupidity. Why hadn't she thought of that last night? "Look…" she started again, a little uncertain now. "Perhaps you're right, I should have send him to the King's Crown. But I didn't think of that last night… He used to be my husband… he broke up with this other woman, I couldn't very well turn him into the street, could I? I still owe him…"

"You _owe_ him?" Tim repeated incredulous, not letting her finish the sentence. "You don't owe him a bloody thing! Not after the way he treated you, not after what he did to you!"

"I know what he did to me!" she spat back. "After all I was the one he did it _to_."

"I just can't believe you took him back in, just like that," Tim continued. "For heaven's sake Ruth, I thought you were smarter than that!"

The look of disgust on his face shook her to the core. It was how Eddie used to look at her, how he'd looked at her when she'd shown him the calendar. And now Tim was looking at her in exactly the same way. He was moving away from her. She was losing him, just as she'd lost Eddie. _Boring, prudish, stupid Ruth… _Stupid to think she could move on from the rut she'd been into. And it hurt. It hurt more than she could even bear to admit to herself. And so she lashed out, all the anger and stress of the past night and morning releasing itself to him.

"You listen to me," she began, trembling with fury and indignation. "You don't get to tell me what I can or cannot do. And neither can Eddie for that matter. If I want to get back together with him, if I want him back in my life or in my bed that is my decision to make and mine alone!

And for your information, I threw him out this morning because no… I'm not stupid enough to take him back!"

She glared at him, her eyes shooting daggers, trying to get her breathing under control, barely registering that his eyes had turned dark and his hands were shaking, until she felt them grabbing her waist, pulling her tightly against him. He bend his head and captured her lips with his own, ignoring her small sound of shock, turning into a moan when his lips moved insistently over hers. His hands on her lower back pulled her impossibly close, almost lifting her of the floor and pressing her flat against his body.

His tongue stroked and teased her lips, demanding entrance and all of a sudden she realised he wasn't pushing her away. He wasn't pushing her away at all, but he was trying to get closer to her. She almost sighed in relief, parting her lips and allowing him to explore her, to taste her and to wrap his arms around her, holding her close against his chest.

Moving her hands up to his shoulders she felt the tension leaving his body as his kiss became slower and deeper and so much more sensual. She felt his hands caressing her neck, her back, her hips and her stomach before enveloping her again, embracing her, keeping her close and secure.

When he finally pulled back, he only tightened his hold on her, trailing his lips over her cheek to her ear.  
>"Ruth…" he whispered huskily, the hoarseness of his voice and the way his warm breath tickled her ear sending shivers down her spine. She tilted her head back a little to look in his eyes, her own mind a whirlwind of thoughts and sensations, the blood still rushing in her ears.<p>

The look in his eyes caused her stomach to flutter almost painfully. There was so much desire and need in them that her heart began to hammer furiously.

When she was working she usually pulled her hair back, but he carefully caught a loose, soft strand between his middle and index finger and tucked it behind her ear.

"You deserve so much more than that idiot of an Eddie," he told her in that same low, husky voice, making her shudder again.  
>Slowly, almost reluctantly he moved his arms away from her and she instantly felt cold from the loss of them. Taking a few steps back, he ran his hand through his hair, all the while holding her eyes with his own, until he turned around and stalked out of the supply storeroom, leaving Ruth behind with a pounding heart and her feelings in a turmoil.<p>

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><p><strong>Of course, I´d love to hear what you think!<strong>

And here I was thinking that I was the first person to write a Calendar Girls fic. I´ve never been so glad to be wrong; check out Lucida Bright´s wonderful _Glorious_! It´s in my favorites, you´ll have to scroll down for a bit.

Happy reading!


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing, PM-ing, alerting etc. Sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter, but real-life has been rather interfering this last few weeks.  
>Enjoy! <em>

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

She didn´t see him in the following three days. It wasn´t by design, she wasn´t actively avoiding him, she just didn´t happen to run into him. Things were quiet at the nursing home, she went to Leeds for a day to visit her sister and her evenings were filled with sculpting classes and a WI committee-meeting. She didn't mind terribly though, as it gave her some time to reflect on everything that happened.

The shock of Eddie showing up at her doorstep was only slowly wearing off and her aggravation with herself for allowing him again to control her like that was even more persistent. Telling him off and throwing him out of her house had certainly been empowering. She only wished she'd done it the moment he'd rang the front door bell, as opposed to letting him stay for the night and belittle her life before she'd worked up the courage to do it. In that respect she could well understand Tim's anger and disappointment.

When she wasn't fretting about Eddie, she was wondering about Tim, who seemed to upheaval her peace of mind even more. Things were unmistakably happening between them. But for a terrifying moment she had really believed she was losing him. He had been so cold, so angry towards her, that she almost hadn't recognized him. And it had upset her a great deal. One of the things that made their friendship so special was the fact that she felt she could completely be herself around him, without having to fear his temper or his critical comments. This had been their first argument and it made her hesitant.

And then of course there had been that kiss. It was that, more than anything else that kept her awake at night. The sheer intensity, the passion of it still made her tingle. Although she still didn't understand what had brought this sudden display of affection on. The thought that he had been jealous of Eddie had briefly crossed her mind, but the idea seemed too ludicrous to be seriously considered. She couldn't have made it more clear that there wasn't anything between Eddie and her anymore and she often felt that her preference for Tim was almost painfully obvious.  
>The effect of his kiss on her however was profound. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so… wanted, desired and completely swept away. Knowing he could make her feel like that, she wondered if they would ever be able to go back to being just friends. They needed to talk, they needed to work things out between them, the problem was, she didn't have a clue as to where to begin.<p>

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><p>Three days after the WI Christmas reception she went Nordic walking with Annie on a crisp and cold December morning. Afterwards they settled down at Annie´s kitchen table for a cup of coffee. Thanks to Jack Berkley the story of how Eddie had stopped by and spend the night at Maple Cottage was now all over the village and Annie eyed her friend with a worried look.<p>

"Are you and Eddie giving your marriage a second chance?" she asked, careful not to let her own feelings on the subject slip in her voice.

Ruth rolled her eyes in annoyance. "We're _not_ getting back together – but I assume it´s all over the village, isn´t it?"

"Well, it's not quite that bad," Annie was quick to reassure her. "We all know what Jack can be like… but I did worry and so did some of the other girls."

Softened a little by her friends obvious concern, Ruth shook her head and sipped her coffee. "We're finished, Eddie and I. I don't love him anymore and too much has changed to even consider trying again."  
>She wouldn't want to at any rate. She'd come to despise the person she became when Eddie was around and she wouldn't willingly put herself in such a situation again. She could only hope her resolve would be as strong the next time he stood in front of her unexpectedly. Involuntarily she shivered.<p>

"What is it?" Annie asked quietly, sitting down across from her at the large kitchen table.

"I've been such an idiot!" Ruth confessed, staring in her coffee. "I never should have let Eddie stay the night… I shouldn't even have let him in…"

"Did you…" Annie didn't really finish the sentence, just gave a small jerk with her head, hoping to get the meaning across.

"What? Oh god no!" Ruth looked horrified at the very thought of it. "No, he slept on the couch. But I shouldn't have let him in the first place…"

"Then why did you?" Annie asked gently.

Having asked herself that same question many times now, Ruth still wasn't much closer to an answer. "I don't know… he took me by surprise, showing up like that. And I guess.. I've always given Eddie what he wanted straight away, so I couldn't change that pattern suddenly. Not until the next morning when he threw Ollie out… that made me so mad that I finally told him to sod off."

"Next time, if he ever bothers to show up again, tell him to sod off for your sake instead of your cat's," Annie said dryly.

Ruth grinned back, but then bit her lip. "What bugs me most is that I had a terrible fall-out with Tim over it."

"Really?" Annie asked in surprise, frowning a little. "When did this happen?"

"The next morning, at the nursing home," Ruth replied. "Apparently he'd heard from Jack that Eddie had been by and he was rather upset about it."

"Well, you can't really blame him, can you?" Annie answered. "He was probably jealous as hell."

"Why would he be jealous of Eddie?" Ruth asked completely bewildered. "He knows I don't want Eddie anymore… if there's anyone who doesn't have to be jealous of Eddie it's Tim!"

"Yes… well, but after he heard that Eddie spent the night with you, you can understand how he got confused, can't you?" Annie asked carefully.

"You think he thinks…?" Ruth started alarmed and then groaned out loud. "Oh heavens… and I even yelled at him…"

"You yelled at him?" Annie repeated, looking rather impressed.

"I did…" Ruth confessed, burying her face in her hands. "He was so angry about it… and I was still angry after my argument with Eddie… I just fired off at him… Told him it was none of his business what I did…"

"Well done!"

Ruth looked up so fast at Annie's unexpected words, her neck snapped, her face a picture of incredulous surprise. "How can this possibly be a good thing?" she asked bewildered. "I yelled at Tim, while I should have told off Eddie… none of this was his fault and yet I took my anger out on him."

"Tell me something," Annie asked calmly. "In all the years you were married to Eddie, how often did you yell at him? How often did you allow yourself to be angry with him?"

Ruth fell silent for a long moment, contemplating Annie's words. Eddie and her hadn't fight much. Or at least not in the sense that they had yelled at each other. Most of the yelling had been done by Eddie, but usually he preferred to give her the icy silence treatment whenever he was cross with her. She had hated it. He could keep it up for days, practically ignoring her existence on the few occasions she'd refused to give way to his will. Most of the time they never got around to resolve their disputes. Either she gave in to his wishes or after a while he came around slowly. Still, she found this nerve-wrecking tension easier to deal with then a full blown argument. For some reason anger had always scared her a little and if anything she'd always tried to avoid the harsh words or bursts of temper.

Anger and fighting meant losing someone. And whenever they'd had a fight, she could feel Eddie drift away from her, alienating himself from her, never really coming back to her after the argument was over. And there had always been that underlying fear that something was breaking that couldn't be mend again. She had felt the same way when she'd had her fall-out with Tim. The same fear of losing him, of ruining their friendship beyond repair.

Only he hadn't moved away from her. In fact he had done quite the reverse.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to answer Annie's question. "I don't like fighting. I never have. And I always try to avoid it as much as I can. There are better ways to solve a disagreement than by shouting at each other."

"Of course there are," Annie agreed. "Only – and I'm sorry if I sound too blunt, Ruth, but… in Eddie's case, did you avoid the argument because you had a better way of solving the issue or because you were too intimidated by him?"

Eddie had intimidated her. To some extent he still did. It was why she'd let him in before she'd been able to pluck up the courage to say no to him.

"The later, I'm afraid," she told Annie truthfully.

"You see… that's why I think it's so great you were able to yell at Tim," Annie said softly. "It says a lot about the two of you that you felt comfortable enough to do that."

"I never looked at it that way," Ruth admitted after some thought. "I'm so used to thinking that avoiding an argument at all costs is a good thing… or that not arguing is a sign your relationship is healthy and safe. I mean, you and John didn't fight either, did you?"

At that Annie's laughter filled the kitchen. "Oh please… we managed to live rather peacefully the last couple of years because we both knew were we stood, but we certainly had our share of arguments and shouting matches. I don't think they were that many, but still… it's part of it, I guess. I don't think you can actually have a healthy relationship without fighting every now and then."

"It's funny…" Ruth mussed. "I knew Eddie and I had our problems, I was never that oblivious. But you and John always seemed so happy together, so I just assumed you never fought."

"We were very happy together…" Annie acknowledged, her smile growing a little sad. "Despite, or perhaps because of our disagreements. It's not the end of the world, Ruth. I mean… for heaven's sake, look at Rod and Chris… they're happy together even though they bicker constantly."

Ruth grinned. "I suppose you're right. Although I still don't like the fact that I fought with Tim."

"Then go see him and try to work it out," Annie urged her. "If you manage to do that, you know you're safe."

"Safe…" Ruth repeated quietly to herself. She looked back at Annie, feeling herself blush. "I really like him you know…"

"I know," Annie replied smiling. "And I think he really fanc-…" Suddenly she fell silent, the expression on her face giving way to worry.

"What is it?" Ruth asked in alarm.

"I'm not sure…" Annie answered hesitatingly. "I don't know if I should tell you this…"

"Does it involve Tim?" Ruth asked, hearing the note of panic in her voice.

Annie nodded wordlessly.

"Please just tell me…" Ruth insisted. "What were you going to say?"

"Alright…" Annie leaned across the table. "But you have to ask him about it, because all I've heard are some vague rumours. Do you remember that man we met at the WI Christmas reception? Patrick McKinney… Marie introduced him."

"The man who took over the real estate business?" Ruth asked, wondering what this had to do with Tim. "Yes, I remember him."

"We spend some time talking at the reception. He's a rather nice man, actually…" Annie smiled fleetingly and then returned her attention to Ruth. "I ran into him yesterday and we went for a cup coffee… Anyway, I asked him how his business was going and he told me that Tim had approached him about selling his house…"

Ruth could feel her blood turn cold. "Tim wants to sell the house? Is he leaving Knapely?"

"I'm not sure," Annie answered, shaking her head softly. "Patrick didn't know either. It doesn't _have_ to mean he's leaving though."

"No…" Ruth whispered miserably. "It doesn't have to mean that… but why else would he want to give up a house he only purchased a couple of months ago?"

"Like I said, you have to ask him," Annie answered intently. "Talk to him, Ruth. Find out where he stands."

* * *

><p>He had just walked his last his last patient of the morning to the door and now Tim sat down behind his desk, ready to take his customary thirty minute lunch break. He breathed a deep sigh and leaned back in his office chair, rubbing his hand across his face. The past three days had dragged on and he'd spend most of this time worrying about Ruth and cursing himself for his rash behaviour.<p>

When he'd heard from the ever tattling Jack Berkley that Eddie was back in Knapely and was probably 'getting it on nice and snug with his wife' he had literally felt sick to his stomach. Worry, anger and confusion had all boiled inside him and by the time he had arrived at the nursing home to do his weekly round he was ready to spit nails. Once he had seen her, standing there in the hallway, smiling at him as if Eddie didn't even exist, something had snapped inside him and he decided there and then that he needed to know what had transpired between them.

So he had shoved her rather unceremoniously in a supply storeroom, ignoring her bewildered expression. He knew he'd spoken in anger, but he also knew that this anger was just a thin concealer for two far greater and intense emotions. The first was plain and blatant jealousy. The thought of any man – let alone Eddie – touching her, being with her was enough to make his blood boil, especially when he realized it was mostly his own fault. If he hadn't been so reticent after the WI Christmas reception… if he had said anything or acted upon his feelings he would probably have been with her when Eddie had showed up at the door.  
>He would probably have chased Eddie all the way down Knapely High Street to make sure he would never come near Ruth again.<p>

Which was the other and perhaps even far greater emotion – he'd been almost sick with worry when he heard that morning that Eddie was probably with Ruth at that very moment. Once he'd had the misfortune to meet Eddie in person when he signed the ownership papers of the house and he had been shocked by the change he'd seen in Ruth. Up until then he had known her to be a caring, sweet-natured, albeit slightly quiet woman. He had watched her as she went about in the nursing home, admiring her ease and kindness, but in front of Eddie he saw this wonderful woman change into a tense, insecure person, bracing herself whenever Eddie opened his mouth.

On a few occasions during his years as a GP he had dealt with battered women and on one of the evenings in Maple Cottage, as they were having a glass of wine and talking about their past relationships he had flat out asked her if Eddie had ever raised his hands to her. She had been quick to reassure him, telling him that Eddie had never tried anything like that. That he was _just_ a little harsh with his words sometimes. He remembered that evening so well. The hurt in her eyes had been obvious and it had cost him all his self-control not to reach out to her and pull her in his arms, telling her she was a beautiful and amazing woman who deserved to be loved and treasured. And that he was more than willing to show her how much – if only she would let him. But it had been too early then.

When he'd heard Eddie was back in Knapely he had worried for her safety, perhaps not in a physical but in a mental sense. Eddie Reynoldson had been the man that had broken her heart and shattered her confidence and it was only because of her own determination and effort that she had managed to move on from that. When he'd seen her, standing in the hallway, looking her calm and easy self, the relief he'd felt had been overwhelming. Still he had to know.

Now he wondered if he had scared her off, jumping down her throat and accusing her like that. She had been right after all, it was none of his business who she invited into her home or into her bed even – no matter how much he wished he could make it his business. At least their argument had relieved him of his worst fears. She wasn't back together with Eddie and she had even kicked him out. He had felt ridiculously happy and proud when she told him she wouldn't stand for any kind of oppressive behaviour from him anymore. So happy in fact that it hadn't even registered at first that she was making it quite clear to him that she wouldn't stand for any oppressive behaviour from _him_ either.

Instead she'd become irresistible to him. The fire in her eyes and the flush that crept up in her neck captivated him and he had finally given in to his impulse and pulled her close. Kissing her, holding her against him and feeling how she responded to him, shyly at first, but soon with growing confidence and intensity had made his heart soar. If he closed his eyes and concentrated hard enough, he could still taste her, or remember the feel of her in his arms.

But now he feared that he had moved too quickly and too abruptly and worried he had made her feel under pressure. The fact that he hadn't seen her for the last couple of days didn't help matters either. He had gotten so used to spending a lot of time with her. There always seemed to be a reason for him to run into her and now he hadn't seen her for days. He missed her, it was as simple as that.

A soft knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and he fought back the twinge of annoyance as he called out for admittance.

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><p>She was nervous. Or course she was nervous, she grumbled warily to herself. She was always nervous. But nervous or not, she would try and get Tim to speak to her. Usually around this time he took his lunch break and she could only hope it would be long enough to solve some of the misunderstandings between them. Annie's revelation had shocked her deeply. The thought of Tim leaving Knapely was simply unbearable and she had to find out if this was really the case.<p>

Luckily Tim's assistant didn't make too much of a fuss about her dropping by without an appointment and told her to go and walk straight to the treatment room. She knocked quietly, waiting for his reply and trying to control the nervous hammering of her heart. When she heard his voice call out she carefully opened the door and stepped inside.

She could tell he was shocked to see her so suddenly. He jumped to his feet, his eyes widening.  
>Checking himself he offered her a hesitant smile. "Hello Ruth."<p>

In that moment she knew things would be alright between them, whether or not he was staying in Knapely. At this realization she felt most of the tension leave her body. It wouldn't be like it had been with Eddie. They would be able to solve things between them. She didn't need to be afraid he would hurt her with his words. He wouldn't harm her.

"How've you been?" he asked quietly.

"Alright…" she answered, a little distracted. "I went to see my sister in Leeds, I had a couple of late shifts… but Tim, actually I'm here to apologize to you."

The look of shocked surprise returned to his eyes. "Apologize? Whatever for?"

"I shouldn't have yelled at you the other day… I was angry and worked up because of Eddie and I took it out on you… and I shouldn't have. I'm very sorry."

"Ruth…" he ran his hand through his hair. "There really isn't any need for you to apologize. It was me who was out of line… you were right, I had no business asking you."

'Of course you have!" she exclaimed. Shaking her head and looking down at her shoes for a moment, she continued. "I've been such a fool… I never should have let him in to begin with. You were perfectly right about that."

"You're not a fool," he replied instantly. And I still believe I could have handled things differently."

"Well, that makes two of us," she answered, smiling at him and feeling unaccountably happy when he returned it.

"So Eddie's really gone then?" he asked, needing to be certain.

"Oh yes," Ruth replied. "Even him sleeping on the couch was more than I could take. I wouldn't go back to him, not ever."

"I'm glad," he said sincerely. "I stand by what I said then, you deserve so much better than that idiot."

She broke the eye-contact, feeling herself turning red. "I don't know about that…'

"Are you… are you alright then? He didn't try to hurt you or anything, did he?" He had to know.

"No… he didn't… he was obnoxious and annoying and he made me remember why it's a good thing I divorced him in the first place… but he didn't hurt me. I won't let him anymore."

She knew her voice was a little hoarse, but she couldn't help herself. His concern for her safety and well-being touched her deeply. She remembered being in his arms, as they were dancing and when he'd kissed her and she realized she'd never felt so safe. If he were to go away, if he was leaving Knapely… suddenly she knew it would be hard – so much harder than when Eddie left her- to watch him walk out of her life.

"What is it?" Tim noticed her sudden crestfallen expression and fear tugged at his heart. Unconsciously he crossed the distance between them until he was standing right in front of her. "Ruth?"

"I-… Today I heard something that I think I wasn't supposed to hear," she started with some difficulty. He made no reply, only continued to look at her, his eyes imploring her to continue.

"Annie told me… well, she has been talking to Patrick McKinney… that you want to sell your house." The last few words came out in a rush and she held her breath in anticipation of his answer.

He laughed out loud. "It's just impossible to keep even the tiniest, most insignificant bit of information a secret around here, isn't it?" he asked amused.

"So it's true then?" Ruth asked, suddenly feeling very cold. "Are you leaving Knapely?"

"What? No… of course I'm not lea-" all of a sudden he understood how this must come across to her and he sighed deeply. He had to tell her eventually. And if he was going to wait until he was absolutely not nervous about doing it, he could be waiting for quite a long time. He only hoped it wasn't too soon.

"I'm not leaving Knapely," he told her softly. "I'm rather happy here and that's because…" He took another deep breath.  
>"Alright, here it goes. I like you, Ruth. I like you very much." He carefully watched her reaction, feeling his heart skip a beat as her brown eyes widened. Then he took the plunge. "In fact, I hope we can become more than friends someday… whenever you feel comfortable with it, of course…"<p>

He planned on saying more, on reassuring her that he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize their friendship, or try to push her into anything she wasn't ready for yet. But anything he might have wanted to say dried in his throat when he watched her face light up as the implications of his words began to sank in.

"But…" slowly the dazed expression on her face gave way to a small frown. "But what does that have to do with you giving your house up for sale?"

"Yes… well…" Realizing he was still at risk of coming on too strong he tried to explain it as carefully as possible. "I know that the house must have many memories for you and how it would be extremely uncomfortable for you to be there with me. And I'm afraid it will complicate things in the long term… assuming and hoping of course there will be a long term…" he added quickly. He tried to read her expression, but she was still staring at him, her eyes wide.

"I haven't sold the house yet," he told her. "But I went to McKinney's office to make inquiries if it would be possible to sell the house if I want to. He reckons I could make a good price, even after having purchased it only shortly ago myself."

"You'd do that for me?" she asked incredulously. "You'd sell your house, just like that?"

"Yes, I would," he told her very seriously en genuinely. "For you of course I would, Ruth."

He was losing himself once again in those beautiful eyes. Those soft brown eyes that had enchanted him from the beginning. She was so close and he longed to kiss her so much.

A quick rap on the door broke the spell between them and he barely managed to rearrange his face in a more neutral expression before the door opened to reveal his assistant.

"Dr Wellington, Mrs Davishport just called… she isn't feeling too well and she asked if you could stop by this afternoon."

"Yes… Thank you, Lisa," he answered. "I'll go directly."

After she had closed the door again, he turned around and smiled softly at Ruth. "No rest for the wicked."

"I suppose I'd better be going," she replied, trying not to sound too regretful. There was so much more they needed to talk about. And she really loathed the thought of leaving him now. Not when he had just told her-  
>And she needed to tell him-<p>

"How about this," he suggested, his hand finding his way gently around her wrist. "When I was in Tanzania, apart from the dust and the sand and the flies, I also picked up a rather great recipe for chicken stew. How about I pick up the ingredients and come over to Maple Cottage tonight?"

She beamed at him, the thought of spending a quiet night indoors, cooking and enjoying each other's company filling her with an almost giddy anticipation. "That sounds lovely."

"Alright then." He leaned in for a soft and much too brief kiss. "I'll see you tonight."

She nodded, unable to keep the bright smile off her face. She still really didn't want to leave, but at least she had tonight to look forward to.  
>"I'll see you then."<p>

Once outside she breathed in the cold December air, suppressing the urge to do a little whoop of joy. Of pure, undiluted, happy joy.

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><p><strong>One more chapter to go after this and you can thank Batwings79 for this extra chapter. Originally I had planned to let the story end here, but the she suggested a quiet night of cooking, soft music, candles and wine… so I'll see what I can do about that.<br>Also, Lavender and Hay has written to wonderful spin-offs to this story. ****'Midnight Chatter'**** and ****'Medical Treatment'  
><strong>**You might want to read both of them before reading the final chapter of this story… **

**And of course, as always I'd like to hear what you think! **


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: No Angora bunnies were in any way harmed or killed in the production of this fic. Also, this chapter still isn´t the end. I planned on including a small epilogue at the end of the chapter, but since this chapter already became rather long – and the epilogue started to expand as well, I´ll post it separately.  
>Also I googled around a bit and found that Norah Jones debut album ´Come away with me´ should match the time-frame… somewhat.<br>And last, Celia´s comment to Ruth will make a lot more sense if you´ve read Lavender and Hay´s Midnight Chatter! _

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

Of course she was also nervous before he came, but it was different. It wasn't an anxious, gut-wrenching nerve-attack, but more a jittery anticipation of what was about to happen that night. She pottered around the cottage for a while, setting the table and pulling out the kitchen gear she thought he might need. The frost had set in early this year and it was already freezing outside. Since the cottage wasn't very well isolated, Ruth had fallen into a habit of lightening as much candles in the evening as she possibly could, bathing the room in a soft glow and creating an extra source of warmth. Of course apart from it being practical it also created a rather intimate atmosphere. Using the same excuse, she also closed the curtains carefully. Tonight she didn't want to be disturbed by anyone. Tonight she just wanted to pretend that she and Tim were the only two people on earth.

A quick rap on the kitchen window startled her and briefly she wondered if that was Tim already. But when she opened the front door, Chris dashed inside, carrying various bags and holding out a square, shining object. Because of the erratic movements of her hands it took a while before Ruth realized it was a cd.

"I've never been so glad Jem has a girlfriend!" she announced, trusting the cd into Ruth's hands. "She brought this around the other day and it's fantastic."

"Norah Jones…" Ruth read out loud, staring at the dark blue cover. "I never heard of her… what kind of music is it?"

"It's jazz." Chris replied. "Very easy listening." She looked around the cottage curiously. "The place looks nice…"

"Yes, Tim will be here shortly," Ruth replied, trying to sound as off-handed as possible. "We're going to have dinner."

"Really?" Chris asked sceptically, eyeing the empty kitchen.

"We're going to cook together and then have dinner," Ruth specified, trying to think of a polite way to get rid of Chris as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, Chris seemed to catch on herself rather quickly. Her eyes sparkling with amusement, she shot Ruth a mischievous grin. "I think I'm going to leave that cd here… you should put it on."

A little doubtfully Ruth stared at the cd-cover. It all looked innocent enough but one could never know. "There isn't any… funny business on it, is there?" she asked tentatively to Chris' retreating back.

Chris turned around with a little snort. "Of course not… it just makes very nice background music. Enjoy your evening, Ruth! And by the way, you look really nice."

Taking a deep breath, Ruth heard the front door slam shut and placed the cd in the cd-player, putting it on shuffle. As the first, soft piano-tones began to fill the room she thought that Chris might be actually right in her choice of music. Self-consciously she looked down at her outfit. She was wearing a pair of black slacks and a deep purple sweater, made from a very soft angora wool. She'd bought it only a while ago, after having falling in love with its light and soft texture. Pulling her hair up or leaving it down had been a bit of a debate, but after remembering how his fingers had felt, caressing her hair as they'd been dancing, she'd decided to leave it down.

_Oh right, the wine!_ Quickly she made her way over to the kitchen and opened a bottle of red, letting it breath until he came. Soon after that she heard the doorbell ring and knew with absolute clarity who it was.

The amount of which she was looking forward to this evening surprised her. All afternoon the memory of the look in his eyes as he´d told her the reason for putting up his house for sale had been mulling through her mind. She was floored to think he would go to that extent to win her over. While he really didn´t have to put in that much of an effort – she´d been besotted with him from the first moment she´d met him in that hotel bar in Hollywood.

But as she opened the door and took in his appearance, she realized how much had changed since that night. From a handsome stranger who´d made her heart skip, he´d become her best friend, more than anyone else the person she could be herself around. More than anyone the person she longed to make happy.

For a brief second they just stood there, drinking each other in, until he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. Unfortunately as he did so, the pumpkin inside the paper bag of groceries he was carrying started to roll forwards, almost tipping the bag over. The kiss landed in her hair before he quickly reached inside to push the rebellious pumpkin down. Still, the full-dimpled grin he gave her could have melted her right on the spot.

Once inside, Tim placed the groceries on the counter top and proceeded to take of his jacket while Ruth poured the wine. Clinking their glasses together a sudden shyness seemed to envelope them, only heightened by the sultry voice coming from the stereo.

"I'm kind of curious to find out what you have in store for dinner," Ruth said eventually, indicating the paper bag. "Just tell me what I can do."

"There are quite some vegetables in there that needs slicing," he told her as he began to unpack the bag. "Meanwhile I'll put the couscous on." Within minutes the couscous was welding in a pan with boiling water and over the next twenty minutes the pile of vegetables rapidly decreased between them.

"Did you really pick up this recipe in Tanzania?" Ruth asked as she was busy chopping a courgette. From the corner of her eyes she watched his hands as he was slicing chicken filet in perfectly equal parts, realizing with a small jolt that her fascination with his hands had not diminished in the slightest.

"It's a bit of a mishmash to be honest," he answered. "And not so much of a recipe actually, but more of something we cooked up and turned out to be rather eatable. You see, it was a free clinic and most people who came there couldn't otherwise afford a doctor. But most of them wanted to offer some kind of payment in return for their medical treatment, so we were swamped with all kinds of products; vegetables and herbs from their own garden, eggs, life chickens… Often it was enough to prepare our dinner from and we got rather adept at inventing dishes from what we got."

"It's rather nice if you think about it," Ruth mussed out loud.

"It is," Tim replied, his tone even. "On one memorable occasion I even got a goat."

"Really?" Ruth exclaimed, turning around to face him. "Please don't tell me he ended up in the stew as well?"

"He didn't," Tim chuckled. "I called him Henry and kept him around for a while. He turned out to be rather good company – a great listener."  
>He stared mesmerized as Ruth laughed softly. She'd moved from the courgettes to the carrots, focusing all her attention on them, giving him ample opportunity to study her.<p>

He'd always thought her to be beautiful, from the first moment he'd seen her in that hotel bar, but here, in the warmth and comfort of her home, she took his breath away. She was simply radiant; From her sparkling brown eyes, to the smile playing across her lips, to the undoubtedly incredibly soft sweater she was wearing. He longed to reach out and touch her, pull her close and feel the warmth of her body, making her feel safe and very, very much loved. Just as he was about to lose himself in his fantasy, she looked up at him, frowning a little in confusion as she caught him staring at her.

"What is it?"

"I- I think the couscous is ready," he managed, feeling slightly embarrassed at having been caught like that. As he poured the couscous into a colander, Ruth closed the distance between them, coming to stand right next to him, eyeing the yellowish substance with curiosity.  
>"I've never had couscous," she admitted. "What does it taste like?"<p>

"It tastes a bit like rice, but it's a lot sweeter," he answered, getting rather distracted by the way her head was almost resting against his shoulder.

"May I?" Ruth inquired, reaching out to grab a spoon lying nearby.

"Actually, you're supposed to eat it with your fingers," he told her with a grin.

"You are?" she asked in surprise, her hand hovering above the colander. "Like this…?"

"Just take a little bit between your fingers," he said. "Think of it as Chinese chopsticks."

Ruth scooped up three fingers of grains and started to bring it to her mouth. But as the couscous was still rather hot and she was gripping it a little bit too firmly, half of it began to fall from between her fingertips before she even was halfway there. In reflex Tim closed his hand around hers, making sure the couscous reached her mouth safely. As she nipped the food, her lips accidentally grazed his fingers and for a moment the world around them stood still. His other hand had come to rest on her upper arm and slowly he stroked the soft material of her sweater. Both very aware of their close proximity they gazed at each other, their faces hovering only an inch from each other.

Until the sound of rather insistent knocking on the living room window filtered through and their spell was broken.

"Ruth! Ruth, are you in there?"

Ruth almost jumped clean out of her skin and took a few steps back, effectively causing Tim to let go of her.  
>"I think that's Marie…" she eventually managed to utter rather breathlessly. "I'll better get the door."<p>

The few short steps to the front door were hardly adequate to get her ragged breathing under control, or to make the blush go away from her face. But as Marie bustled in, closely followed by a rather disgruntled looking Jessie, Ruth realized Marie probably wasn´t going to notice anything anyway.

"I've tried calling you this afternoon, but I kept getting your voicemail," Marie told her in a somewhat disapproving voice. "The WI County meeting is due the first week of January and I really need those accounts overviews."

"I have them ready, but I didn't know you were in such a hurry to read them," Ruth replied calmly, stepping back in the living room.

"There really wasn't any reason we _had_ to get them tonight," Jessie chipped in, rather sharply.

Just when Marie was about to launch herself into a tirade of how punctuality and proper preparation was such a trademark of a well-functioning WI department she came to face to face with Tim.

"Dr Wellington!" she breathed, her voice ending in a girlish giggle. Tim was starting to look mildly alarmed while Jessie was looking from the pair of them to Ruth with raised eyebrows, a look of suspicion slowly filling her eyes.

"We are obviously interrupting," she said brightly.

"It's such a happy coincidence that I should run into you now," Marie chirped, her eyes positively growing large. "We are just on our way to a meeting with Helping Hands, Knapely's charity committee and we're planning a big event between Christmas and New Year's. But we're a few hands short and it would be absolutely heavenly if you could help us out."

Wondering at her particular choice of words, Tim looked over Marie's head to Ruth and Jessie who were both shaking their heads furiously behind Marie's back.

"The thing is," Marie continued. "As Knapely's doctor you know more than anyone who can benefit from any help, you could provide us with a list of names…"

Thankfully she just gave him the perfect excuse to decline. "I'm sorry, Marie, I can't do that. Information like that falls under patient confidentiality."

"Oh, but surely you can…" Marie started, but then Jessie broke in.

"Really, Marie, I don't suppose you'd like to see Dr Wellington turned out of his job now would you?" Her irritation was clearly showing now and with Jessie in the room Ruth felt certain Tim wasn't in any immediate danger of being pounded on by an overzealous WI chairwoman. She took the opportunity to rush to her bedroom to grab the report Marie had been asking for from her desk.

Upon returning to the living room she handed Marie the file, hoping she would also take the hint and leave. But unfortunately, Marie could be rather obtuse if she choose to be. With her gaze still firmly fixed on Tim, she changed the topic. "Would you be interested in giving a speech at one of our next WI meeting? It could be about anything you like… I'm sure it will be fascinating to have you educate us about the hidden world of bacterium!" Her enthusiasm was flaring again and at this point Tim was looking positively horrified.

Ruth rolled her eyes at Jessie and realizing the chairwoman was stalling, the later stepped forward, a rather determined gleam in her eye.  
>"I think it's time you and me both left, Marie," she said decisively.<p>

"But…" Marie started to protest.

"No!" Jessie's tone booked no argument whatsoever, as she turned into full teacher-mode. "We've disturbed them enough as it is. Come along now." Looking as if she was quite ready, not to mention willing to drag Marie out by her ear like a obstinate schoolchild, Marie finally relented.

"Very well then," she mumbled grudgingly. "Perhaps we can discuss this some other time." At a rather swift pace, Jessie practically pushed Marie to the door, telling Ruth over her shoulder: "Don't bother to show us out, I have this quite covered!"

When she heard the front door slam, Ruth breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Tim. He was still looking rather startled. Smiling she made her way to the kitchen and proceeded to refill their wine-glassed. As she handed one to Tim, he commented lightly: "Jessie must have been quite scary as a teacher."

Ruth laughed out loud at that. "Oh yes. You know Lawrence… the photographer for the calendar? He was a bit of a shy lad. In fact I think he was more nervous about the whole thing than even I was, so you can imagine that says a lot…"

She leaned causally against the kitchen counter as she continued to tell her tale and Tim grinned at her ability to make fun of herself. "We were doing Jessie's photo-shoot and he's standing there in a room of middle-aged women without a stitch on, trying to be as gentle and considerate as he can be and all of a sudden Jessie tells him: _'__Come on, Sugden, it's your own time you're wasting!'_ And to us: _'I was his junior school teacher._' I think poor Lawrence turned seven different shades of colour and fled the room instantly."

Tim barked with laughter and Ruth regarded him with fond eyes over the rim of her crystal wine-glass. He really was a wonderful man. Warm, considerate and as Celia would put it: _'flaming gorgeous.'_ Sometimes she still couldn't believe her luck that after all the trouble she'd been through with Eddie she'd found a man that seemed to care about her as much as he did.

He was smiling at her now and she wished she had the courage to reach out and touch those maddening dimples. Still she did manage to not look away, smiling at him in return, until her gaze drifted down and she was slowly becoming transfixed with his mouth.  
><em>Goodness, she wanted to kiss him… <em>

She remembered the way his lips had felt, pressed against her own, how he had gently grazed her lower lip, before teasing her with his tongue and finally tasting her. She longed to be back in his arms again and kiss him at leisure, fully living the moment and enjoying it.

Unconsciously her tongue darted out to moisten her suddenly dry lips. He put the glass on the counter with an audible tump and when she looked up in his eyes again she noticed they were considerable darker.  
>"Ruth…" he started hoarsely, reaching out to take the wine-glass from her.<p>

Simultaneously her cellphone started to beep rather loudly, making her jump for the second time that evening.  
>"Sorry…" she stammered, blushing furiously and stumbling the few steps into the living room to get the phone from the coffee table.<p>

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down and to stop the blood from rushing through his veins, he started on the chili sauce, resenting whoever it was that had to make this extremely ill-timed phone call. She had never before looked at him like that… with so much desire in her eyes and he found that every bit of self-control he possessed was quickly crumbling beneath a look like that. He listened to her mono-syllabled replies and managed to wind down just a bit before she hung up and returned to the kitchen.

"Do you like your food to be spicy?" he inquired.

"Yes!" she replied rather adamantly, taking her wine-glass up again.

"Good," he answered appreciatively and added generous amounts of garlic, cinnamon, coriander and cumin. He looked aside and found her tracing the rim of her glass with her index-finger, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"That was Cora," she replied to the questioning look in his eyes.

"Oh, what did she want?" he asked curious.

Instead of replying she picked up the bag with raisins. "Do these go through the couscous?"

He nodded and waited for her to continue.

"Cora asked me if I was interested in giving a sculpting beginner's class at the community centre…" she eventually told him.

"That's brilliant!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. "Will you do it?"

"I'm not sure…" she answered hesitantly. "It seems a bit presumptuous, doesn't it? After all, I only just got back into the swing of things myself."

"Ruth…" he turned around to face her, an incredulous expression on his face. "Of course it makes perfect sense. You are incredibly talented and apart from that, you'd be a great teacher… you definitely have the patience for it!"

Without warning tears filled her eyes. It was rather overwhelming how this man could make her feel. She'd never thought herself to be anything extraordinary, but he made her feel special and wonderfully safe.

"I would like to accept," she admitted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Then she laughed softly. "It´s funny, only a year ago I thought my life had been permanently put on hold and now – who would have thought?"

Christmas last year had been a horrible affair. The first one without Eddie, when she had no idea what to do with the rest of her life. She had just began working at the nursing home and was still adapting to the work and living on her own. She had been lonely, miserable and feeling like the biggest failure on the planet. And now she felt like she was on the brink of making a complete fresh start with a man she absolutely adored and who – she was finally allowing herself to believe it – loved her just as much.

And who was staring at her with such smouldering eyes that she needed to occupy herself with something before she melted into a happy puddle.

She walked over to the table and checked the setting, more for the purpose of having something to do than anything else.

He was leaning against the archway to the kitchen, watching her with a thoughtful expression on his face. Her words had triggered something that had been plaguing his thoughts for a while now and before he moved any further, he was determined to sort this out.

"Ruth…" he began carefully. "You know that I care about you and how much I want things to… progress between us, but I can't help wondering…" he paused again, trying to formulate his word as accurate as possible.  
>"You've worked so hard to build a life for yourself. You've accomplished so much on your own. Are you truly willing to give that all up?"<p>

When he'd started her insides had knotted up with worry, but now she could only smile in relief. "When Eddie left me… I thought that my life was over. Only, it wasn't. I'm far happier now than I ever was with him… in retrospect. But I don't necessarily like being on my own. Given the choice I'd much rather spend my life with someone…" Realizing that this might have come out wrong, Ruth gripped the back of the chair tightly and looked in his eyes, drawing courage from the intense look in them and took the plunge. "Well, not just anybody… I'd rather spend it with you."

Her heart was hammering in her chest as he crossed the distance between them with two swift strides, coming to stand in front of her.  
>"Ruth…" he breathed huskily and his eyes shone with so much love and devotion that it took her breath away. His fingers were softly grazing her hips as they were drifting closer, her hands coming to rest on his chest.<p>

"Tim," she started quietly, having one last demon of her own to deal with. "Why me? I don't know if you've noticed it, but half the village is madly in love with you. You'd only have to say the word and they'd all come running. So why me?"

Tenderly he brushed a few strands from her forehead, his hand slowly making its way into her hair, stroking it gently between his fingers.  
>"You don't know by half how wonderful you are, Ruth," he told her, his voice just above a whisper. "You're caring and kind and generous… I want to be with you, because I trust you… and I think I've loved you from the first moment I saw you."<p>

One of his hands was holding her waist now, guiding her closer against him and when their bodies were touching it slid around her, holding her even closer. His other hand detangled itself from her hair and very lightly he trailed one finger from her forehead, across her temple, down over her cheek and chin, ever so slowly tracing her neck till the collar of her sweater.

It was only a very light touch, but nevertheless her skin felt like it was on fire and her breath caught in her throat with a small hitch as her eyes fluttered half close.

He delighted in discovering just how sensitive to his touch she was, but right now he needed more. He needed to hold her and kiss her, telling her without words just how much he loved her. His hold on her tightened even more as he cupped her cheek, lifting her face towards him, feeling how her hands slid over his chest to link behind his neck, her hands disappearing in his hair, pulling him closer towards him.

She was already standing on her tiptoes, desperate to get closer to him. His thumb was stroking her cheek and through her half-closed eyes she could see his lips inching closer at a tranquilizing slow pace.

It was perhaps the slowest build-up to a kiss she had ever experienced and she was enjoying every second of it, her senses in overdrive, knowing nothing else than his scent and the feel of his arms around her and the warmth of his body against her own.  
>For a few seconds they breathed the same air and then she closed her eyes.<p>

Ruth! Ruth, are you home?" Frantic knocking against the window accompanied Celia's clear and penetrating voice. "Could you open up, please?"

This time Ruth didn't startle so much. Still with Tim's arms around her it took her a few seconds before she came out of her daze, all the while resting her forehead against his chin.  
>"You have to be kidding me…" he growled above her head, his voice heavy with frustration.<p>

"I'm going to kill her," Ruth replied, sharing every bit of his frustration. Very reluctantly she stepped back, already missing his closeness. Muttering under her breath she made her way – again – to the front door to let the next intruder in.

Her grumbling was rather endearing, despite his frustration – and at this point he was so frustrated he was ready to spit. Deciding that it would probably be best if he once again concentrated his efforts on cooking, he stirred the sauce and added some more herbs.

A second later, Celia breezed into the living room closely and in a somewhat more subdued fashion followed by Ruth and Annie.

Celia grinned wickedly when she noticed Tim standing in the kitchen, while Annie's eyes grew wide with shock. "Oh my goodness… we didn't realize the two of you were…" She turned apologetically towards Ruth. "We're off to Skipton to see a movie and we were wondering if you'd like to come with us, but you've obviously already made plans."

"God, what smells so good in here?' Celia exclaimed meanwhile, stepping into the kitchen to inspect the pans. She threw a sideways glance at Tim.  
>"My, aren't you the perfect date?"<p>

Tim thought it to be wisest to ignore that remark.

"Oh couscous!" Celia piqued up again. In a much quieter voice, so Ruth wouldn't overhear she added slyly: "Very clever. Did you think oysters were a bit too obvious?"

The scowl on his face could only be described as murderous and any other woman would probably have faltered under a look like that, but Celia didn't. She merely smirked cheekily at him and patted his arm.

"How are things going?" Annie asked Ruth in an equally quiet voice so Tim wouldn't overhear them.

"Well, he's been in here a little over an hour and so far we've been disturbed three times," Ruth answered warily. But then her face lit up, her eyes beaming. "Other than that, it's been completely wonderful."

"Good!" Annie whispered, looking almost as excited as Ruth. Then, straightening her back, she called out: "Celia! We better get going if we want to make that movie!"

"Yes, of course!" Still grinning, Celia threw Tim another smirk and followed Annie to the hallway. Just before she excited the room, she looked around once again, a genuine smile on her face this time. "Ruth… you know, it might be time to even out that score!"

Responding to the comment with a wide grin of her own, Ruth shook her head as she watched both of them leave. Then she felt Tim coming to stand next to her, his arm sliding around her waist again. "What was that about?" he asked bewildered.

"I'll tell you later," she told him, happily leaning into him.  
>His other hand came to rest on her waist as well and he turned her around so that he was facing her. "Ruth?" he asked, with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Would you mind dreadfully if I seized my opportunity now before the next WI member comes barging in?" Unable really to wait for her reply he planted a row of kisses across her forehead.<p>

She could definitely get used to this, she decided, being this close to him, feeling how he gently rubbed her sides. Wrapping her arms around his neck she stood on her tiptoes once again and tilted her head back. "I wouldn't mind at a-"

Before she even managed to finish her sentence, he'd captured her mouth, his arms coming up around her back to hold her as close as possible. Soon her hands were busy stroking the thick curls at the back of his neck and the sensitive skin there and she delighted in the shiver that ran through his body, amazed at the way she was affecting him. But then she felt his tongue stroking her lips, begging for entrance, her involuntarily sigh giving him exactly what he wanted. And as he explored her mouth very gently and thoroughly she felt her knees giving out, his strong arms around her the only thing keeping her upright.

When he finally pulled back he was greeted with what was probably the most beautiful sight he had ever behold. Ruth, with her head cradled in his hand, leaning into his touch, her lips red and swollen from their kiss, her face flushed and her beautiful brown eyes radiant with happiness. They stayed in each other's arms for a while, sharing kisses and whispering soft words of love.

Something was tugging at the back of her mind. Something rather importantly they were forgetting. "Tim! The food!" she gasped eventually.

It took him a few seconds before it filtered through his brain what she meant, but then the both of them hurried back to the kitchen, their hands still clasped.

"Is it ruined?" she asked anxiously as he carefully stirred the sauce.

"I think we were just in time," he replied relieved, kissing the tip of her nose and wrapping her in his arms once again. Right now it seems just impossible not to touch her. "Come on, Iet's have that dinner."

Dinner became a romantic, quiet affair, with many longing glances, a little hand-holding and lots of conversation. For some reason they never seemed to be out of a topic to discuss, constantly finding out new things about each other or matters they both agreed upon.

The dishwashing after dinner was a different matter altogether. Unable to keep their hands off each other for more than a few minutes, it took them an hour between gentle touches and lingering kisses to clear the dishes away. When the kitchen was finally spotless again, Ruth made coffee and the both of them sat down on the sofa, Ruth with her feet tucked underneath her, snuggled closely into his side, sighing contentedly when his hand slipped under her sweater to rub her back through the cotton top she was wearing underneath.

Realizing suddenly that she never had responded properly to his earlier declaration, she pulled back a little to be able to look at his face. With a boldness that surprised herself she traced the dimples on either side of his mouth with her thumb and leaned in to press a sweet, loving kiss on his lips and whispered: "I love you too… you've probably guessed that by now." Honestly, she didn't think she'd ever loved anyone more than him.

Instantly his arms were around her again and he shifted slightly so that she lying on top of him. He captured her lips again and soon every rational thought left her as she gave in and returned his kiss with equal passion.

* * *

><p><strong>I´d like to hear what you think! <strong>


	10. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_Six months later…_

At half past eight in the morning the sun was already streaming through the kitchen window of Maple Cottage as it promised to become another warm and sunny day. Still glad in a light, cotton dressing-gown, Ruth hummed quietly to herself as she pulled the griddle with muffins from the oven and placed it carefully on top of the stove. A second griddle with breakfast buns went straight back into the still warm oven and as they baked Ruth wrapped the muffins neatly in a tea towel so that they could cool off but not lose their soft texture.

A cupcake frenzy was sweeping the nation and although it had taken some time to get Marie around to the idea, Ruth had finally convinced her that this might be just the thing to interest younger women to participate in WI activities. The first cupcake-decorating workshop had been such an overwhelming success that they were already planning a series of workshops in the coming months.

A pair of strong arms slipped around her waist from behind and she happily leant into the solid chest behind her.  
>"I thought you were going to have a bit of a lie in?" she asked quietly. It had been a rather busy week for the both of them and between a couple of trauma-calls in the last two days, she'd seen very little of him. Only last night he hadn't come home until two in the morning. And as much as she looked forward to spending the day with him, she rather wished he was well-rested before they started on it.<p>

"The bed's too big without you in it," he mumbled against her, gently kissing and nipping at the sensitive skin of her neck.  
>She hummed appreciatively, tilting her head a little to the side to grant him better access and relaxing a little further in his arms. He hadn't shaved yet and she blissfully rubbed her cheek against his.<p>

It was rather amazing how quickly things had moved between them, once they had finally admitted their feelings for each other. The house had been put up for sale after all and to their surprise it had only taken a month before the first seriously interested buyer showed up. They had already discussed looking for a place together and a little tentatively, Ruth had suggested him to move into Maple Cottage for the time being while they looked for another house. Quickly they had agreed they would take their time looking around the neighbourhood, patiently waiting until they found the perfect house.

"Well…" she said grinning, turning around in his arms and pulling his head down for a proper 'good morning-kiss', "how about breakfast then?"

"Sounds wonderful," he whispered between kisses, but never letting her move from his arms. Instead he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, his fingers tracing all the sensitive spots on her back that he had discovered in the last couple of months, until she was sighing in his mouth.

She still marvelled at the effect he had on her, at how his touches could make her feel. At the beginning she had been anxious about the physical side of their relationship. The last years of her marriage to Eddie had destroyed all her confidence in that area and she'd never been overly sure of herself in that respect to begin with. Eddie had long ceased to find her attractive, planting the idea firmly into her head that she simply wasn't. In the last years they had barely ever been together and it had always been just a quick release to him, while she was left wanting and craving the intimacy.

She had tried not to let those past insecurities influence her relationship with Tim, but it had been hard. The first time she had been nervous as hell, no matter how much she wanted to be with him. In the end she never should have worried. He had picked up on her nervousness and gone out of his way to make her as comfortable and secure as he could. Afterwards she had laid trembling in his arms, her body still tingling from the sensations and her heart-rate in overdrive, while he had kissed away the salty traces of her tears.  
>She had cried, – as much as she'd hated herself for it- at the height of it, she hadn't been able to stop the tears from trickling down her face. But all that remained was an overwhelming sense of relief that everything had gone alright and would continue to become even better.<p>

It hadn't happen overnight. She wasn't used to expressing herself while she was with a man, or to be with a man who admired her so openly and thoroughly. The big change had come when he had surprised her with a week away to York. For nine, glorious days her biggest worry had been where they would eat that evening and she had finally allowed herself to relax around him and to fully enjoy being with him. And slowly but surely her restraint had fallen away she became more carefree, secure in the knowledge that he loved her and wanted nothing more than to love her and give her pleasure. A sentiment she heartily returned with growing confidence.

They had returned to Knapely, ridiculously happy and even more in love than before. After their little 'honeymoon' as she jokingly referred to it, some of the magic had remained, even when the dull routines of everyday life began to demand their share.

The sound of the oven-clock chime brought them back to the real world and Ruth took the buns from the oven, while Tim made coffee. Looking outside the kitchen window that offered a clear view of the street, he suddenly frowned. "Isn't that Patrick and Annie?" he asked curiously.

Looking up from her buns, Ruth peered over the curtains and grinned. "I think it is." Recently Annie had adopted an adorable Irish Setter pup and as a fellow lover of dogs – he owned the most enormous, scruffy sheepdog – Patrick and Annie were spending more and more time together lately.

"Did I miss something?" Tim inquired, his eyebrows rising. "Well, you know…" Ruth commented lightly, coming to stand beside him and moving back in his arms. "He has a dog… she has a dog… they spend a lot of time walking their dogs…"  
>Annie and Patrick reminded her so much of the way she had Tim had started out, almost a year ago now. Tilting her head back she kissed the underside of his jaw. "I'm very happy for them."<p>

"You're a sweetheart," he told her seriously, tightening his grip on her a little more. "And speaking of McKinney, I got an email from him the other day and he might have found another house for us to look at. From the pictures it looks rather promising, I must say." Teasingly nuzzling a spot behind her ear, he added: "Apparently the bathroom contains the most enormous bathtub."

"Oh, I'm sold already!" Ruth beamed, pulling him down for one last brief kiss, before picking up the breakfast tray. "Come on, I'm starving."

As was their custom on summer mornings during the weekend, they had their breakfast in the little garden behind the cottage. Since it faced East it was already warm and sunny there. Looking at her from over the rim of his coffee mug Tim realized he with a small jolt that he was happier than he could ever recall being so. And it was all down to her. She made him so very happy. Committing himself once again to a relationship had been rather difficult for him after his last, disastrous involvement with Carol. At first he had feared that after the first blissful phase of just being together had worn off, the same troubles would arise. And since he cared more for Ruth than he had ever cared for Carol, he found himself highly dreading the prospect.

But it never happened. Somehow Ruth made things easy for him. At first he had worried that Ruth was still pushing her own wants and wishes aside to accommodate him, but as time progressed he began to realize that she was perfectly capable of setting boundaries when things really pushed passed what she felt comfortable with, but that she just wasn't the sort of woman who deemed it necessary to pick a fight about every little detail. It was just little things really. He was still working rather gruesome shifts on a regular basis and although he loathed the fact that it meant he sometimes didn't get to see her properly for a few days in a row, they had managed to work out a way to make it, if not ideal than at least a little bit more bearable for the both of them.  
>Ruth was an incredibly light sleeper. To the point where she joked she would wake up if an ant was walking across her pillow. At first the idea of waking her when he returned in the middle of the night had bothered him. Especially since, no matter how quiet and carefully he tried to move about, she just always woke up.<p>

So he had suggested it would be better if he slept on the couch on such occasions. It had probably been the only time he had ever come close to having a really angry Ruth on his hands, ready to get into a full-blown argument. So now, whenever she woke up when he slipped in bed next to her in the death of the night, they cuddled and kissed for a bit, filling each other in on the most important things of the day, before falling asleep again. And whenever they found themselves with a shared couple of days off, they just made the most of it.

She made him so very happy and he only hoped he could make her equally happy as well.

His cellphone beeped, interrupting his musings and as he reached out to grab it, he was happy to see it was a long awaited text-message from Rod.

_Mate, flowers are in.  
>Annie and Chris agree to distract Ruth this afternoon.<br>Did you get the ring? If you need help w/t preparations, give me a shout.  
>Can't believe you're tying the knot! –Rod<em>

* * *

><p><strong>If you´ve made it this far, I´d love to hear what you think! <strong>


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